Partick Thistle goalkeeper Tomas Cerny says that he is far from certain to be fully fit for Saturday’s match against Inverness at Firhill.

Cerny, who injured his ankle in his side’s draw with Hamilton three weeks ago, has stepped up training in recent days.

He had hoped to have recovered following the international break last week, but he admits that he still has some way to go to prove his fitness.

He said: “It’s getting better and it’s getting stronger so we’ll see how it goes this week. I’m stepping up training a little bit, although it’s hard to say when I will be back.

“We’ll have to assess it over the next few days in training and see what I can do before any decision is made about our game on Saturday.

“The chances I’ll be fully fit are probably around 50/50. I’m obviously hoping to be fit for Saturday but we’ll have to wait and see.

“I’ve done all my work in terms of rehab and in terms of gym work and strengthening. I started that last week and did a little bit of training on Thursday and Friday on the pitch but nowhere near the full training that I would normally do. I’ll step it up this week and see if I can do a full session and take it from there.”

Cerny’s injury provided a chance to understudy Ryan Scully, but his opportunity fell flat when he was red-carded in giving away the penalty that led to the visitors’ fourth goal of a forgettable afternoon.

“I was obviously watching the game and I felt bad for Ryan because it was a difficult game to come into losing 4-0 at home to Hearts,” Cerny said.

“Then being sent off towards the end was always going to be disappointing for him, but he will bounce back. He’s a young goalkeeper, he works hard in training and I’m sure he’ll get another opportunity.”

Veteran player-coach Paul Gallacher had to tend the sticks for the Jags in the visit to Dundee, and he rolled back the years with a solid performance in the 1-1 draw.

With such strength in depth in the position, Cerny says that he doesn’t take it for granted he will return to the starting line-up when passed fit.

“Gal did well against Dundee,” he said.

“He’s vastly experienced and we know that he can come in and do a job for us. He gives me banter all the time about taking the starting slot so it’s nothing new!

“All 5 of the goalkeepers here work well together. Gal has been great as a coach, and you can see that he can still play, so we have a relationship where we’re all in it together and it’s a great environment.”

With Inverness six points ahead of Thistle in eighth place, Cerny says that it is vital for his side to pick up a win on Saturday to try to keep tabs with the teams above them in the table.

“It’s a home game and we have to win these type of games,” he said.

“If we can create a bit of a gap to Dundee United then it will put more pressure on them at the bottom, but our aim is to look up. You don’t want to be eleventh and in the play-off place, so we should be looking at the teams ahead of us and trying to catch them and overtake them. We’re focusing on the teams above us now like Inverness and Motherwell.

“We want to put the pressure on them and the only way to do that is by focusing on the next game and trying to get the win.”