Danny Seaborne today urged his Partick Thistles team-mates to stand up and be counted and make sure they are not drawn into a nerve-shredding scramble for Scottish Premiership survival.

The Jags wilted in spectacular style at the weekend as they suffered a morale-sapping 4-1 defeat to a rampant Inverness Caley Thistle.

While the Firhill side are still six points clear of second-bottom Kilmarnock with three games to play, that gap could be reduced even further when the two sides meet in a huge match at Rugby Park this weekend.

Not so long ago, Thistle were looking at a top-six finish but after Saturday’s shambles, they are now looking over their shoulders as they try to avoid being sucked into the relegation play-off.

A trio of second half goals from Caley Thistle left Alan Archibald’s men shell-shocked and English defender Seaborne admitted he was stunned by the costly collapse.

He said: “We capitulated in the second half. It is tough to put into words what happened.

“We actually started the game ok but then became victims of our own downfall, passing the ball in areas we shouldn't. It could have been a couple of more to be honest. The first goal knocked the wind out of our sails.

“That shouldn't happen as we have been 1-0 down before and come back to win the match.

“We have got to recover from that. We are a better team than that.

“It felt like we were all over the place. People were doing things they are not accustomed to doing. Kilmarnock have won comfortably which makes it a massive game this Saturday.

“It has been in our hands all season and now we have been dragged down again.

”We still have a cushion but if we don't turn up again we will make it really difficult for ourselves.

“It is down to us as players to take responsibility. I am the most experienced out of everyone so I will happily take the buck for what happened.”

Thistle had started brightly but Carl Tremarco’s opener on the break after 14 minutes changed the complexion of the game and the visitors took charge.

Miles Storey, Josh Meekings and Jordan Roberts added to the tally in the second half but it could have been even more as Roberts hit the post and Thistle keeper Ryan Scully had to make four good saves to keep the Highlanders at bay.

Seaborne, 29, added: “Coming off the back of a poor start to the season and then having a chance to reach the top six was a big thing for us.

“It would have been the first time in the club's history. But we lost the game against Ross County after doing so well in the months before.

“We need to realise before next week we are in a different position now. It will be tough but I'm looking forward to it. We need to get our chins up.

“We need to clear our minds but we have to talk about what happened today and realise we were not at it.

“We can.t go home deluded thinking we did alright. It is now about points rather than performances and we might need to change the way we play.”