After all the acrimony of recent days, it will be most refreshing to have some actual football to focus on once again when Partick Thistle host St Mirren in the first leg of the Premiership play-off final.
Thistle's Challenge
Thistle are the challengers from the Championship, with Mark Wilson's side seeking to end an eight-year exile from the top flight of Scottish football. The Jags should be confident of making home advantage count, given that they were unbeaten at Firhill in the Championship across the full season.
St Mirren's Struggle
St Mirren are the team who have it all to lose. Having won the League Cup back in December, this topsy-turvy campaign now sees the Buddies clinging on just to avoid relegation. Momentum is also not on their side. Craig McLeish picked up a couple of wins shortly after replacing Stephen Robinson, but St Mirren finished the season with just one victory in seven matches.
Play-Off Dynamics
When it comes to these play-off finals, it is often said that the Championship teams tend to run out of steam, and that the odds are stacked in favour of the Premiership side. That does not look to be the case in this instance. True, Thistle had to work hard to overcome Dunfermline in the semi-final, coming from behind in the second leg to win 3-2 on aggregate. But few could call the winner of this tie with any certainty. To the neutral eye, this looks to be 50-50 as both teams go chasing a place in next season's Premiership.
Ben Stanway: Key Player
In Ben Stanway, Thistle have a young midfield maestro who has excelled across the season with his energy and dynamism in the middle of the pitch. Named in the PFA Scotland Championship team of the year, Stanway has been the best midfielder in the league. Still only 21 years old, and having come through the club's academy, he has scored 12 goals in all competitions and has been a real driving force for the Jags. One of those goals actually came against St Mirren in the Scottish Cup back in March. Even beyond his ability, Stanway's leadership has also shone through. He has been a force of nature at times for Thistle.
It is no surprise that so many clubs across Scotland, England and beyond are now lining up to take a look at a young midfielder who has the full package in terms of talent and temperament.
'I think Ben can go all the way,' said former Thistle boss Jackie McNamara, whose management agency counts Stanway among their number. 'I think his temperament and his mindset are so impressive — and, most importantly, he's a fantastic wee guy. I love him to bits as a person.
'People have obviously seen wee bits of him now. But you could see that three or four years ago when we first started looking after him. And then you see him when he went on loan to Airdrie. Just his first spell there and how he's matured and how he's developed since then. He then started adding goals to his game.
'Even playing as a six and then the eight, he's been great. But I think he's like an old-fashioned midfielder. He can do it all, box-to-box.
'You look at the boys that were playing in the Championship maybe ten years ago, John McGinn and all the rest of it, maybe got three or four goals in the championship. Ben's got 12 now. All different types of goals as well. Getting forward, free-kicks too. He's got it all to go to a very high level.'
McNamara was critical of Scotland Under-21s boss Scot Gemmill recently in that Stanway continues to be bizarrely overlooked for the national side. 'I would say yes, I am surprised at that,' he added. 'But the fact that Ben has played the number of games he has and to the standard he has, it's just disappointing for the Under-21s rather than anything else. I just hope he will go on to have a top career.'
