Brian Graham vents his frustration over Partick Thistle's creativity

The problem, though, was one that has plagued the Jags this season: creating chances. Graham’s equaliser on the hour mark – a fine first-time hit from the edge of the box – wasn’t just his first league goal of the campaign; it was also his only shot on target throughout the 90 minutes.

Thistle have regularly struggled to fashion opportunities lately, particularly in the first half of matches – and Graham is adamant that needs to change if the promotion hopefuls are to have a successful season.

“We need something to turn this round because yeah, we’ve not been conceding a lot of goals this season, but going forward in the final third we’ve been so wasteful,” said the 36-year-old, who was the Championship’s top scorer last term.

(Image: SNS) “It’s so evident over the course of recent weeks that yes, we're getting into good areas at times but we’re so wasteful on the ball, especially first half. I don’t think we strung three or four passes together. I thought we were really, really poor first half and probably lucky to come in at 0-0.

“Then I felt we'd actually started the second half a bit better. But then you go a goal down, then thankfully we’re back into the game. Maybe we could have won it then but we could have also lost it the other end. So maybe a point is probably a fair result.

“It’s been a frustrating season for me personally. That’s my first league goal today, which is incredible after the season I had last year, but my game’s not changed for 20 years. I need people to create chances for me, I'm not going to get the ball through the halfway line and go and beat 10 players and score a goal, it's just not my game. I need balls in the six-yard box.

“I felt as if there was a couple of opportunities last week against Livingston where I was in great areas and didn’t receive the ball. I thought [against Falkirk] again there was a couple of times where I probably should have received the ball for tapping it in in the middle of the goal but we hit the first man – even at corners we hit the first man.

“So going forward we need to be better collectively all over the pitch because if we don't get that right then it's going to be a long season.”

Graham’s goal meant that Thistle avoided a third successive match without scoring but it is hard for those watching the team not to notice that the chances have been drying up this season.

The football on show at Firhill this season has been a far cry from the exciting, swashbuckling style that Doolan introduced when he replaced Ian McCall as manager, and Graham believes he and his team-mates must work harder, be less individualistic and regain some confidence if they are to get their bid for promotion back on track.

“That was my first shot in weeks,” Graham said of his equaliser. “That’s what's annoying me. I’m not going to sit here and talk nonsense. You know how I am by now, I just say it how it is.

“For example, in the Dunfermline game [last month], I think I had the most high-speed runs that game. I’m 36 years old. We need to be working harder all over the pitch. We need to be working as a team.

Brian Graham in action against Falkirk (Image: SNS) “I think right now there’s a few of us playing like individuals and that’s not good enough for Partick Thistle. We've got high expectations this year and we need to get back to the training pitch this week and work on a few things.

“We do work on crossing and finishing and stuff like that, but it's our end product, it's our confidence. Obviously that was a great battling point today and it could spark us into life because we need to get going, that's for sure.”

While disappointed in his own side’s performance, Graham was left impressed with Falkirk and fully expects them to be challenging at the top of the table come the business end of the season – even if he feels he and his team-mates made life easier for them than he would have liked.

“Yes, of course I do [expect Falkirk to be title contenders],” he added. “I know John McGlynn well, a fantastic manager, you can see how well coached they are.

“Their rotations - you don't get two minutes’ peace with them. The ball goes out of play, we’re turning our backs, switching off, they've got the ball back in play.

“We said at half-time we need to stop switching off, they don't let you rest for a second. The ball’s out, they’re back in. Midfield rotation – they’re basically playing without a striker at times. So we then need to push up, the back four need to push up. We need to be brave to do so, midfield need to get up, that then gets our two wingers higher up the pitch, obviously closer to myself.

“I felt first half, it was so easy for them because we just kept kicking it long. If I'm jumping up for the challenge, one’s pushing me under the ball, the other centre-half gets it and it’s waves of attack. So first half I was so frustrated, so isolated, and I'm getting annoyed with it.

“I am frustrated because you're working hard Monday to Friday, come to a Saturday, we need to be creating more chances, it's as simple as that. But players need to take responsibility, that's not just on the staff, that's on players, because it's the players that cross the white line.

“It's on us, we need to take responsibility as a whole team and collectively because as a team we've not been good enough.”

Falkirk goalkeeper Nicky Hogarth, meanwhile, was left similarly frustrated by the stalemate in Glasgow’s West End.

Not because his side failed to fashion chances – far from it – but because they failed to get the win over the line.

Nicky Hogarth in action at Firhill (Image: SNS) “The word in the dressing room was frustration,” he said. “The manager said we were really, really good for spells of the game. We controlled the majority of it and had them camped back. Credit to Myles [Roberts] in their goal, he’s had some fantastic saves. A lot of positives to take from it, we’ll learn from it.

“Our football is brilliant to watch at times. It’s good to be a part of it, you can see the confidence right through the team. From the boys at the back passing the ball out and the ones up top are so creative. Brad [Spencer] and Dylan [Tait] in the middle will get on the ball no matter what, every time.

“I didn’t have much to do until the last 15, 20 minutes. Brian has managed to get that yard of space and its a great hit. Credit to the lads in front of me for making my afternoon so quiet. But it’s still difficult to come away with just a point.

“We’re in a great position. It shows the quality we’ve got that we’re frustrated, because we know we could be in an even better position with points. But if you told us this time last year that we’d be sitting top of the Championship after nine games, we’d have bitten your hand off for that. We’ve just got to keep building.”