Goals we lost were abysmal
Alan Archibald slammed Partick’s “abysmal” defending and insisted his team will get nowhere if they don’t stop conceding sloppy goals.
The Jags are rooted to bottom spot and slipped eight points behind Killie after their 5-1 humbling at Rugby Park.
Thistle have not won away since March and Archibald was in no mood to defend his players’ latest performance.
He said: “I don’t want to dress it up – we’ve been beaten 5-1 by one of our closest rivals. We were in the game but if we defend the way we did for most of the goals, it was ridiculous.
“It doesn’t matter how you play if you defend like that, it was abysmal.
“The defending for the first goal was bad – three things we could have dealt with better.
“We score with a wonder goal then give away a soft free-kick. Tomas made a save and we didn’t help him out.
“The manner of the third goal was ridiculous.
“We started the second half brightly then the goalie kicks a long ball and they score.
“I don’t think it was a penalty but regardless of that we have to stick together. They lacked a leadership and we needed to stand up and be counted.”
Thistle face Motherwell on Wednesday then Dundee on Saturday. It could be make or break as they look to drag themselves out of danger.
Archibald hopes to have Abdul Osman available for selection in the coming weeks but does not expect any more of his injured stars – including Callum Booth, Christie Elliot and Stuart Bannigan – to return any time soon.
He added: “We might have our captain (Osman) back soon but we need the all-clear from the surgeon. We can only play with certain players.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re losing goals and we haven’t got a lot to change it with.
“We have been here before. We’ve got strong characters and we need them to stick together.”