New Partick Thistle recruit Antonio German is ready to turn up the heat on Scottish Premiership defences after swapping the warmth of India for the chill of the Scottish winter.

The former QPR forward yesterday landed a deal with Thistle until the end of the season, having last turned out for Indian Premier League team Kerala Blasters.

The crowds may not be as large at Firhill, and the weather is certainly not as pleasant, but the 24-year-old is determined to make the most of his chance in Scottish football.

He said: “This cold Scottish weather is taking a bit of getting used to - it’s good though!

“It’s a lot different from India. I’ve gone from 40 degrees to zero and it’s hard.

“Going to India was the best thing I’ve ever done. You’re playing in front of 80,000 people every week and the fans loved you and treated the players like kings.

“I never thought I’d ever play abroad, but then Peter Taylor called me to go out there.

“You see a lot of poverty out there, but football-wise it was very good and the pitches and stadiums are all very impressive.

“The quality of the football was better than I’d expected. I was surprised by how good it was.

“They are throwing a lot of money at football and it gets plenty of exposure. There are a few ex-English Premier League players out there - Florent Malouda and John Arne Riise for example.

“I think it will definitely continue to grow and possibly become one of the best leagues in the world one day.

“They treat it so massively over there and you can’t go anywhere without the fans recognising you. It’s basically like playing in the World Cup.

“I’m not sure if I’m planning to go back. I’ll see how things work out and I just want to focus on Partick Thistle and try to score as many goals as I possibly can.”

German hasn’t played since early December, so he concedes it may take him some time to get up to full speed. Despite that, he is sure he can make a contribution if called upon against Motherwell tonight.

“I try to keep myself in as good shape as possible and hopefully I can help the team get three points,” he added.

“We don’t want to be at the bottom of the table but it’s early at the moment.

“We just have to try to keep winning games and hopefully that can start on Tuesday night.

“There are no egos here, everyone has been perfect to be honest.

“I speak to a few of the lads and go out with them all the time, so it’s been really good.”

Thistle manager Alan Archibald was pleased to get the versatile attacking option that he craved after pinpointing the area as a key one to strengthen.

He said: “It’s good to get him in and get some reinforcements in that area. He will give us something different up top or out wide.

“Like a lot of guys he maybe lost his way a little bit. He’s got something to prove with a short-term contract.

“You don’t know what you’re going to get, it’s his first time playing here so we’ll see how he does.

“We’ve got a stronger squad now than two weeks ago when we could hardly fill the bench. [Mathias] Pogba, [Gary] Fraser and [Christie] Elliot are back fit and [Ryan] Edwards is back from Australia, so we're four players better off in that area than we were as well as having Antonio coming in."

One man who has exited Firhill, at least temporarily, is striker Chris Duggan, who has re-joined Queen's Park on-loan until the end of the season.