CHRISTIE ELLIOTT has revealed he is ready to go to war with new signing Gary Miller for the right-back slot at Partick Thistle.

The 24-year-old was given his first run-out of pre-season in that position in the 1-1 home draw with Wigan Athletic on Tuesday night and made an impression both in attack and defence before being replaced by the ex-St Johnstone man with 26 minutes to go.

Elliott has been a real utility player for the Jags since arriving in 2011, but, having signed a new two-year deal back in May, he is eager to nail down a fixed role within the side and he admits he has no qualms about going head-to-head with Miller for a jersey.

“You need more than one player for each position, but it is definitely straight competition between us,” he said

“I have been used in different positions in the past, but I am hoping to get one position set down this season and build things around that. I hope it is right-back.

“Last season, I spoke to the gaffer and Scott Paterson about it and they both think that I have a good chance of playing right-back, so I am going to do what I can.

“It is down to them who plays, but, when day one of the season comes, I hope I am going to be there.”

Elliott missed Thistle’s first two pre-season friendlies against Eastleigh and Falkirk because of a fitness concern, but he is fully fit now and eager for another chance to show why he is the long-term answer at right-back in tomorrow’s visit of Rotherham United.

“I enjoy playing there,” he said. “The ball is always in front of you and I am quite athletic, so I can get up and down the pitch.

“The focus is generally on going forward and that suits me. If I can get myself settled in that position, it provides the opportunity to then develop myself as a player.

“It helps even in training. If you are playing in a number of different positions, it is hard to get your job within the team down to a tee in practice.

“If I can settle in one particular position, I can obviously use training to focus on getting better in that particular role.”

In addition to making progress as a player, Elliott fully expects to be part of a club making great strides forward in the coming months.

No longer is sheer survival a concern for Thistle as they prepare for their third straight season in the Premiership.

Every player has spent the summer talking about aiming for the top six and Elliott believes they could set their sights even higher than that.

“The first aim when anyone comes up from the Championship is just to survive,” he said. “We have a little more experience from the past two seasons and I don’t think that is on anyone’s mind now.

“I feel we have made progress over those two years. The next step is to make it into the top six. We want to progress as much as we can with each season that comes.

“We just need to be more consistent both home and away. Other than maybe Celtic and Aberdeen, I don’t think we have much to fear.

“If we can just get that consistency into our game, I think we can easily finish in the top six and perhaps even have higher ambitions than that.”