McNamara discusses Murray omission

Partick boss Jackie McNamara has explained his reasons for omitting Hugh Murray from his side during Sunday's 1-0 win over Cowdenbeath.

The experienced midfielder was a surprise exclusion from the starting line-up for the Ramsdens Cup semi-final win over the Blue Brazil, with Chris Erskine and Ross Forbes being preferred in the centre of the park. McNamara has now explained that he made the decision, as he wanted more height on the field to help his side win more second balls on the narrow Central Park pitch. "The Central Park pitch is so narrow that I knew we would have to deal with an increased aerial threat with long throws into the box and at corners," he said. "When that happens you need to win your second balls and I left Hugh out because we were changing the system to cope with that."