Partick Thistle goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon enjoying best spell of his career after scooping second ‘Player of the Month’ accolade in a row

It’s not hard to see why Jamie Sneddon is on cloud nine at the moment.

The Partick Thistle goalkeeper is starting to build up an impressive amount of accolades on his mantlepiece at home after recently breaking the club’s all-time record for consecutive clean sheets.

The Jags No.1 has been in outstanding form between the sticks, keeping his 8th shutout in a row during last weekend’s goalless draw against Queen of the South.

“It’s a real honour to go down in the history books”, said Sneddon, Thistle’s McCrea Financial Services Player of the Month for November, the second month in a row he’s won the fans’ award.

“I was saying to the guys earlier when you look at the top keepers that have been at Thistle over the years, names like Roughie (Alan Rough) and Kenny (Arthur), it’s a proud moment to emulate them.

“The only record I knew about was keeping the six clean sheets in a row. We got to five last season and I knew that six broke a league record, so going into the seventh game I didn’t have a clue about any other records.

“It was maybe better that way because I wasn’t really worried in the last five minutes in that game but the guys in the stand were saying they were bricking it. I had no idea!

“I went up to the hospitality suite afterwards and was getting interviewed, which is when I found out, so it was a nice surprise.

“Hopefully I can stretch it for another couple of games and make it a tougher record to catch.”

Sneddon may have grabbed the limelight in recent weeks but he recognises his achievement would not have been possible without the hard work of his team-mates.

He added: “You don’t go on runs like this without everyone contributing throughout the team. There’s been quite a few games where I’ve not had a lot to do in terms of making saves.

“It’s not just the defence, the midfielders and the forwards are involved too, everyone works so hard.

“We’ve had a lot of 0-0 draws, more than we probably would like, but it just shows in those tough games when we’re not playing our best that we are all digging in and making sure we are hard to beat.”

The former Hearts youth academy product is enjoying the best spell of his career to date.

Now aged 24, Sneddon’s impressive string of performances has ensured his confidence is sky high going into Saturday’s Championship clash with Arbroath at Firhill.

He stated: “It’s the first time in this league where I’ve had a consistent run of games.

“I’ve played a few times in League One and during my spell in the lower leagues but in terms of playing week-in, week-out in the Championship for Partick Thistle, that is always what I’ve wanted to do.

“It was really tough at the start of the season (being out of the team). I’ve been at Thistle for a few years now and it’s always been a bit stop-start.

“After the first few weeks, I thought it was going to be a similar story but thankfully I managed to get back in.

“I made a mistake up at Inverness which cost us points. Ironically, I probably made one of the best saves of my career in that game, even though it didn’t really count for much in the end.

“The bus journey back down the road was tough but Kenny Arthur spoke to me and just put things into perspective a bit and looked at how to move forward from there.

“Thankfully things have improved since then and with each clean sheet it just builds confidence. I go into every game feeling better than the last.

“It’s about getting that consistency and trying to spend a full season as No.1.”

Sneddon reserved special praise for his goalkeeping coach and mentor Arthur, who identified his talent as an fledgling youngster learning his trade at Cowdenbeath in SPFL League Two.

He said: “Kenny has been massive for me since I signed. I think he had a big say in bringing me to the club after watching me play a few times for Cowdenbeath.

“As a goalie coach, he’s been massive in that respect. Not just in terms of training me every day but also the mental side of the game and growing me as an individual as well.

“I was just a wee boy when I arrived here but we’ve worked closely together over the last few years and I can’t speak highly enough of him. He’s a great guy and I owe him a lot.

“He’s been there and done it in the game, he’s got a story for every occasion as well. He was a very good keeper but he always tells me about the bad mistakes he made.

“He’s very humble that way, the fact he’s got that experience under his belt shows because he knows when to keep me grounded and when to praise me.”

Sneddon is one of three first-team players in talks with the club over extending his contract beyond the end of this season but he refuses to get drawn into any speculation surrounding his future.

He admitted: “It’s something that is getting talked about just now but I try to leave that to the people around me to sort out.

“I’m just concentrating on my football at the moment. I love playing for this club and I’m enjoying playing in the team every week.”