Ryan Edwards says that talk is cheap from the Partick Thistle players, and that it is time for their actions on the field to speak louder than their words off it.

The Australian midfielder has been mystified by the drop in performance levels from Thistle over the last two games, and particularly with the lack of a reaction from the defeat at Motherwell in Saturday’s loss to Kilmarnock.

Edwards believes that it is unacceptable for the Jags to raise their game against the bigger sides in the league only to drop their standards for matches against sides of a similar stature, and he admits that has happened in their last two matches.

“We spoke about getting a reaction and it didn’t happen,” Edwards said.

“It was a terrible day all round and now we are playing catch-up. It’s all well and good saying we performed well against the bigger sides, but we needed to continue with those intensity levels and desire against the other teams too.

“It’s one thing to raise your game against a Celtic or a Rangers, but we have to do that throughout the whole season against teams we need to be beating.

“You want the win so desperately, but we seemed to drop the intensity, and mentally we have to stay strong.

“We keep saying we’ve had these bad starts before and we can get out of it, but it’s up to us to make sure it comes right in the end rather than just waiting for it to happen.

“We’re all ready to fight. We’re in a relegation scrap now with the way we’ve started,.

“On the face of it, this is the best squad Thistle have had for a long time, but again, it’s all well and good saying that, we have to put what we are saying into action on the pitch and really up our game.

“We all showed our desire and intensity levels and how much we wanted to win against Celtic and Rangers, but then it comes to these games and you could see that as soon as the goal went in we dropped our heads.

“It was the whole team. The fans can see it and the staff can see it. It’s disappointing and we as players need to stand up and say that this isn’t good enough. We have to be better, it is as simple as that.”

Edwards is honest enough to admit that all of the Thistle players, himself included, have been way off the standards they have set themselves, but he isn’t sure why they are playing so poorly.

“It’s difficult to hit the nail on the head as to what is going wrong,” he said.

“When we’re performing well there are eight or nine players all on form, but at the minute we’ve got 10 or 11 players who aren’t in good form and the touch isn’t there.

“We have to stay positive and keep going. We’ve put to bed what has happened in the past two weeks, and we have to make sure we learn from it. We know what happened and how it happened, and now we have to put it right.”

The need for the Thistle players to pull their socks up and get some points on the board could hardly be more pressing if they want to avoid becoming detached at the foot of the table, with games against Dundee and Hamilton in the next week.

“The manager and Scotty [Paterson] both said today that we have all mulled over it on Sunday, and now it is a new week. We don’t forget about it, we learn from it, and move on.

“The game this week is another massive one, and is even bigger for us now. We don’t want to get cut adrift, and we need to get the three points soon. Hopefully that will come on Saturday.

“I think four points is a realistic target from the next two, but we will aim for six.

“We have a home game and that’s one we really need to win, then we go to Hamilton which is always difficult.

“We have to get some points on the board as quickly as possible.”