Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall is closing in on contract extensions for four of his Firhill stars as he predicted there would be positive news over the “next five days” on the futures of Stephen Hendrie, Zak Rudden, Jamie Sneddon and Tunji Akinola.
Keeper Sneddon has recently set a new club record for consecutive clean sheets as the Jags push for promotion to the Premiership and McCall was full of praise for the shotstopper – even if he downplayed it just a little.
Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
With seven shutouts in a row under his belt, McCall thinks Sneddon can still perform even better as he spoke about securing the 24-year-old’s future at the club.
“He’ll be a lot more confident once he signs his contract extension, which he’s been humming and hawing about,” McCall said [Glasgow Times].
“He’s done really well. In the last couple of games he’s not had much to do but he’s done a lot of unglorified goalie work and done it really well: taking things in the air and using the ball.
“He’s done really well but I think he would be the first to say that it’s about the team, particularly the back four and the middle two. But even our strikers work their socks off to press the ball quite high up the pitch.”
“I think within the next five days that Akinola, Sneddon, Rudden and Stephen Hendrie will all have extended, I hope.”
While McCall is hopeful of getting new deals done for four of his existing players, the Jags boss doesn’t expect there to be much in the way of coming or goings in the January window – although there will be some movement.
The Thistle boss doesn’t want to let down the players who have been on the fringes of his starting XI and confessed he’s only likely to make a new signing if they can get someone he feels can help over the long-term.
“We’ve been thinking and talking about that [the January window],” McCall admitted. “I can only see maybe one coming in, maybe two. I don’t think there will be a lot of people leaving – maybe one or two, possibly.
“But I can’t for the life of me think it’s worth letting [down] two or three of the boys that have been coming on and doing well but not getting a regular start, considering how well they’re thought of and how well they’re training.
“If the right player becomes available that can help us over a longer period then we might do something there but I’m very, very happy with the togetherness of the squad right now.”
NTOF now offers a YouTube channel featuring exclusive interviews, post-match discussion, in-depth debate, and much more – LIKE and SUBSCRIBE and don’t miss any of our videos.