Preview: U18s v Partick Thistle

Midfielder Kyle Scott highlighted the importance of focus as our under-18s look to back up last weekend’s crucial win against Morton.

The young team return to Club Academy Scotland League action on Friday afternoon when Partick Thistle travel through to Perth.

Kick-off on the McDiarmid Park astroturf will be 4pm and supporters are more than welcome to attend.

Reflecting on the season so far, Kyle said: “We’ve been good, we’re top of the league and that is where we want to be.

“Ayr have got their games in hand but I think we have everything it takes to go and win that league.

“Throughout the academy there are a lot of promising players and anyone can step in and take over from the older ones in the team.”

Kyle has been at the club for a number of years now and has enjoyed being part of cup and league success.

“It has been a long journey for me – six and a half years,” he smiled. “But I have enjoyed every step. Alistair Stevenson and everyone else has helped me a lot along the way.

“We’ve won the CAS Cup previously and won the league last season. We had the Scottish Youth Cup semi-final run too. Even though we didn’t win in it, it felt big for the team at the time.

“The league win was the best one for me – on the last day at Rugby Park. That was a good day.”

Saints defeated Morton 1-0 last week – Filip Franczak the scorer – to consolidate their spot at the top of the standings.

Kyle knows there is no room for complacency and is targeting another solid team performance against Partick Thistle this week.

He said: “Morton are a good team and they beat us down there quite comfortably. The boys did well to break them down. We were very happy to beat them this time around.

“Partick Thistle have been winning games recently, but there is no reason why we can’t beat them like we have in the last two matches.

“Ayr have their three games in hand but we know, if we win our four games that we have got left, then we can win the league. That is what we are looking to do come the end of the season.”