BRIAN GRAHAM knows that he and his Partick Thistle team-mates are capable of handling a heavy fixture list as the matches come thick and fast – but hopes the Jags can fall back into a familiar routine.

The Championship club have had a few games called off since the turn of the year. Sometimes the surface at Firhill has been waterlogged, on other occasions the opposition’s ground hasn’t been deemed up to scratch and there has been the occasional outbreak of Covid to contend with.

It leaves Ian McCall’s side with a potentially frenetic run-in as the Jags squeeze in all their games before the end of the campaign, but history is on Thistle’s side here. The last time the Maryhill club found themselves playing so relentlessly, they strung together a remarkable run of results as they stormed to the League One title a year ago.

That experience assures Graham that the Thistle players are more than capable of getting their heads down and grinding out results when the going gets tough. And although the postponed games have led to more family time for the centre-forward, he admits to feeling a little out of place in recent weeks as 3pm at Saturday rolls around and he finds himself entertaining his kids.

“It’s not ideal but we’ve shown last season that we can do it when we were playing Saturday-Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday,” Graham said of the rearranged matches, speaking after winning the fans' vote to be named Thistle's McCrea Financial Services Player of the Month for January. “If that’s the case then it is what it is and we’ll just get on with it as a group.

“Yeah [it’s frustrating]. We knew that the weather wasn’t great and we’d seen the pitch on Friday, we knew it was touch and go.

“When you see the heavy rain when you wake up on Saturday morning, you know before the pitch inspection’s been done that the game’s going to be off.

“It is frustrating, don’t get me wrong, because you end up at Airthrill [an adventure park] with your kids and you’re looking at the scores round about you.

“This might sound cruel but it’s not really an enjoyable Saturday because you’re used to being out there and playing football, it’s what we all want to do.”

Graham’s gong is the first he has received in red-and-yellow and it has been a long time coming. After two years at the club, the 34-year-old’s scoring record equates to around one in two – a fine return – and in a recent interview with the club’s media channel, McCall suggested he had never worked with a player with as big a heart as Graham.

Such comments would usually be music to a player’s ears but as Graham points out, the Thistle boss isn’t shy of poking fun at his talents either.

“If you go back to the start of it [the interview] he was winding me up because he said I was an ‘all right player’,” Graham said of his manager’s assessment. “He came down the stairs and said, ‘Wait until you see what I’ve said about you in the press conference’.

“The manager is great with me. He probably knows that I’ll watch that and it will get my back up, make me try and score again. I know what the manager is like, we’ve both got trust in each other and it’s an enjoyable working environment.

“I may be 34 but I feel as fit as ever. I’m playing 90 minutes most weeks and the stats are there when we get our GPS stats at the end of the game and I’m at the high end in terms of running. I’m really fit. Whenever the gaffer chooses to play me or leave me out that’s his decision but I’m always ready to play.

“I was close [to winning Player Of The Month] a couple of times, I lost out to [Rangers loanee] Kieran Wright once but I think that was because half of Ibrox voted for him!”

With Zak Rudden departing for Dundee on deadline day and Alex Jakubiak moving in the opposite direction, some would argue that more responsibility will be placed on Graham’s shoulders. The man himself, though, disputes that theory.

“I had that leadership role beforehand as I was the senior player,” he explained. “I thought Zak and I had a great partnership – he was like a younger brother. I took him under my wing and tried to guide him as best as I could.

“I really wished him well when he left and I hope he does extremely well in that league. If he can potentially keep them up then great but it’s not looking great for Dundee at the moment. But for Zak as a person, he’s a great lad and he has great potential. He just needs to keep building on it.

“Alex has come in and fitted in to the group seamlessly. He’s looked really good in training and he’s been honest with the boys, saying he needs game time and that he’s had his injuries in the past.

“The manager believes he can get the best out of people; sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. You can’t do it with everybody but if you look at the percentages he’s at the high end. Seeing Alex in training, I’m sure he’ll do well for us.”

Graham has often cut a steely and determined character since arriving from Ross County in January 2020 and there is little doubt that his insatiable desire to win has driven Thistle on during that period.

He remains tight-lipped on his scoring targets for the season – when asked, the striker refused to divulge a figure but said he’s “getting closer” – as Thistle’s top scorer delivered a typically defiant warning to the media.

“If you look at my goalscoring record across the board, you see when I get regular game time my ratio is always around one in two,” Graham added of his time at Thistle. “I always believe in myself and always back myself. Sometimes I might not have the best of games but I always get a chance and I back myself to take that chance.

“It’s been a fantastic fit. We’ve had our problems but we’re on the up now. We won League One last year and you guys haven’t given us a sniff in the Press yet about challenging up the top end of the table, so we’ll maybe go and prove you all wrong as well.”

Partick Thistle's Player of the Month Awards for season 2021/22 are proudly sponsored by McCrea Financial Services - visit www.mccreafs.co.uk to find out more.