Throw in the towel, wave the white flag, fling down the tools? Whatever you want to call it, Alan Archibald didn’t like it. The manner of Partick Thistle’s second half capitulation during the 4-0 defeat to Heart of Midlothian last weekend was a tough one to stomach. No wonder the club’s spooky mascot Kingsley has a thunderous monobrow.

“It was the first time I’d seen that from them,” said the Thistle manager with an increasingly furrowed brow. “We were that good in the first half and so bad in the second. I felt we could have done a hell of a lot more. I didn’t think they believed they could get back in the game. Even if it’s 2-0 or 3-0 you have to go about things the right way regardless of what the score is. You’ve still got to get on the ball and work hard for the team. You can’t match Hearts every step, like we did in the first half, and then just not do it for 25 minutes. I think the lads were a bit shocked themselves. They are an honest bunch and they knew they’d let themselves down.”

It’s time to pick themselves up now, of course. Saturday’s trip to the City of Discovery offers the chance of a recovery but Dundee will pose a stern test. After this weekend’s match on Tayside, Archibald’s men have a series of crucial encounters with the teams around them in the lower reaches of the Ladbrokes Premiership. Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Kilmarnock and Motherwell are all on the forthcoming fixture list and the Thistle manager is eager to make it a profitable and purposeful patch as he looks to move his side away from the perilous position they currently occupy. “We need to look after ourselves and pick up points because other teams around us will be doing the same,” he said. “Three points on Saturday will be massive. It would give us some momentum going into this run.”

With first choice goalkeeper, Tomas Cerny, sidelined with an injury and Ryan Scully, the No 2, currently suspended after being sent off last week, Archibald will plonk experienced custodian Paul Gallacher back between the sticks. It will be the Thistle goalkeeping coach’s first match of the season but he’s a handy man to have as a third choice. “We’re lucky with keepers,” added Archibald. “Most clubs go with one main goalie and a youngster. We’re fortunate we have Gallacher who is fit enough to go and play. It also gives us that fall back instead of pushing a young lad in who might not be ready. We have young Mark Waters, who plays with the under 20s most weeks, but I don’t think he’s quite ready to go into such a vital game. I don’t want to put that onus on him just now. Sometimes it can be less beneficial and ends up doing them more harm.”