Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall admits highly competitive Scottish Championship is brilliant league to be part of

Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall reckons the highly competitive nature of this season’s Scottish Championship makes it a thrilling league to be part of.

The Jags are back in the second tier after mounting a 12-game unbeaten run in the closing months of last season, on route to winning the League One title.

They welcome a new-look Kilmarnock side to Firhill stadium this afternoon, following the Ayrshire outfit’s relegation from the top-flight last term.

Defensive duo Darren Brownlie and Steven Bell are the only notable absentees for Thistle as they look to leapfrog their second-placed opponents in the table.

McCall expects there to be a number of sides battling it out for promotion this year, including today’s visitors Kilmarnock.

He said: “It doesn’t matter who you play in this league, whether it be a team at the top or the bottom, every Saturday is an incredibly difficult game to win.

“It doesn’t matter what position you are in the table. You won’t ever have an easy game and that’s the great thing about the Championship.

“It’s hugely competitive, probably even more so this year because of the number of teams that have a good chance of winning it.

“Unlike in previous years when there were a few clubs with much bigger budgets, this season is more of a level playing field. You can’t rule anyone out.

“It makes it really enjoyable. Of course you want to try and win every game but that’s not being realistic.

“The very fact we’re playing Kilmarnock this weekend suggests we’ve come on leaps and bounds as a club in recent years in regard to the opposition we’ve faced over the past few seasons.

“Kilmarnock have built a very strong squad, they’ve got a very good manager and will be firmly in the mix to finish at the top end of the table.

“I think they’ve sold quite a lot of tickets and I’m sure we’ll be backed by a big home support, so it will be a proper game of football.”

McCall is hoping to see a big reaction from his players following their 3-1 defeat to league leaders Inverness in the highlands last weekend.

The former Ayr United boss stated: “We’re in the top four just now and that’s where you want to be. If you’re up there for the whole season, then you’ve got a real chance to achieve something.

“Winning three out of our first five games is good, it could’ve been better, but it’s still been a decent start.

“Out with individual mistakes, the two games we’ve lost so far, we could quite easily have won them both.

“In all likelihood, if you win three games out five in each quarter in this league there’s a strong chance you’re going to finish second or third maybe.

“In terms of when I took over two years ago, I think things have moved on significantly. We’re now expected to beat teams every week and we’ve got some players with a lot of flair.

“Defeats hurt, but the Inverness game is gone now. I thought in the second half, they were the best team we’d played so far this season, but I’m sure they might’ve said the same about us going by our first-half performance.

“Saturday is another opportunity for us to pick up three points against one of the favourites for promotion. It’s great the away fans will be situated right behind my dugout, I’m really looking forward to that!”