Hamilton v Partick: Accies to end poor form against Thistle

The fact that Hamilton have only defeated Partick Thistle once in their last seven matches will not fill the Accies with much confidence heading into their season opener.

They scored late equalisers twice last season to secure draws against the Glasgow outfit, while two strikes in the last five minutes saw them bag a 2-1 victory 11 months ago.

If it wasn’t for those late goals, the South Lanarkshire club could have been facing a five-match clean sweep at the hands of the Jags, perhaps making the 13/8 on an away win look very tasty indeed.

In truth, they were probably outplayed on all five occasions against the team they meet in Saturday’s fixture and it may come as a surprise that they are marked up as slight favourites.

They did however finish one place and seven points ahead of Alan Archibald’s men last season, and look set to do battle with them again in the lower reaches of the Scottish Premiership.

That being said, the business the two outfits have done over the summer could see Hamilton end their hoodoo against Partick.

Thistle’s Kris Doolan netted four when the sides met in January, and can be a real handful, but many aspects of the Firhill support feel that they have no back-up to the 28-year-old.

The inability to bring a striker in could see the visitors out of attacking options should Plan A not work out.

They’ve seen four regulars out the door over the summer, but have signed up potential replacements in every position.

Tomas Cerny has come in between the sticks from Hibs, while David Amoo has joined from Carlisle in the pick of the recruits.

Hamilton meanwhile have only really lost Stephen Hendrie to West Ham when it comes to first-team regulars.

He looks to have been competently replaced by Latvia international Antons Kurakins, who has plenty of experience in Champions League football, and could prove to be a gem of a signing.

They’ve also added competition across the park, especially up top, with Salva Chamorro proving a regular scorer in the lower Spanish leagues and Christian Nade capable with chipping in with a goal or two.

So while it’s been a case of attempting to replenish the Partick squad with players of similar ability to the ones that have moved on to pastures new, Hamilton look to have added quality to their squad in the last couple of months.

There seems a real air of positivity across the Accies fan base ahead of this season, and they will fancy their chances to start off the campaign with a win.

Even though they look to have done better over the summer, their poor record against Partick cannot be ignored, and three points could be a stretch.

Instead, backing the sides to share the spoils at 23/10 looks a solid pick, with both teams looking to gel after a summer of transition and avoid beginning the campaign with a defeat in the process.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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