Thistle have won three of their seventeen league outings this season though they have yet to celebrate a home triumph. Hearts have camped in the relegation spot but the tussle to avoid the playoff position will involve Thistle. They were unlucky not to take three points from Inverness on Boxing Day as their inability to score from close range let the Highlanders off the hook. Still, that 0-0 result enabled us to jump to second place!
Our hosts have been praised for the 'proper' football style they have maintained since last season's promotion but the harsh reality is that they have managed only two draws from the last eight outings. There will be a few familiar faces lined up against us on Sunday. Thistle have Forbes, Higginbotham and lawless in their ranks but they will likely have to cope without Osbourne and Welsh in midfield.
The Motherwell squad have been working hard to erase the depression that settled on Fir Park a few weeks ago and the consecutive wins over Ross County, St Mirren and Aberdeen have lifted the mood. The aim must now be to consolidate our second place and build a buffer to keep the chasing pack out of reach.
Since the manager first raised talk of retaining our loan pair they have responded in magnificent fashion. Both scored against St Mirren and they combined to deliver the goal on the break that won the game in Aberdeen. There's unlikely to be any change in our attacking formation but with Hutchinson serving his one game suspension we'll have a different back four on display.
If the swelling in McManus's ankle has subsided he'll be a straight replacement otherwise Cummins will join Ramsden in the centre with Hammell and Kerr on the flanks.
On order to capitalise on the good work in Aberdeen we'll have to record a first win in Maryhill in almost 20 years but there's no reason to doubt that the year won't end with a 2-0 victory.
Remember our last game against Partick Thistle?