Partick Thistle must pick themselves up quickly from their unacceptable performance against Inverness, according to striker Kris Doolan.

Describing himself as “Partick Thistle through and through”, there was nobody hurting more than Doolan as the Jags were swept aside on Saturday to chalk up their third loss in succession.

The defeat has made a few Thistle fans start to nervously look over their shoulders, with the club now just six points clear of Kilmarnock in eleventh place with three games to go.

With a visit to Rugby Park to come this Saturday, Doolan has urged his teammates to give themselves a collective shake and make sure they put the lingering issue of their Premiership status to bed.

“Saturday just wasn’t good enough” he said. “Bar the first 15 or 20 minutes it wasn’t acceptable. We started brightly enough, but for some reason we just stopped doing all the good things, and the boys did take it hard.

“It was a tough one to take, but it’s important to pick ourselves back up quickly. We can’t dwell on these sort of things because with only three games to go we have to get these points we need as quickly as possible.

“The manager told a few home truths on Saturday and rightly so. It about setting standards, this is a Premiership team and the standards just weren’t adhered to on Saturday.

“Everybody was made aware of that, it was made clear to us. We’ve got to shake it off because nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to go out there and put the points on the board ourselves.

“Obviously we went close with the top six and just missed out, but I don’t think we can say that’s the reason we’ve played so badly in the last three games. We’ve got to take responsibility for that as a team.

“We can’t let it happen anymore, it’s plain and simple – it just can’t happen.

“We know that there has always been something to play for in terms of league position and the money it brings in for the club, so we know exactly what is at stake.

“I don’t think anyone relaxed and though the season was over, we’ve always known there was a lot to play for.

“Now though the stakes have been raised even higher, and it is important that we go and put these points on the board and secure our safety.”

Memories of Thistle’s last visit to Ayrshire are providing succour to Doolan, when the Jags ran out convincing winners by five goals to two.

Despite being from the town, Doolan has no qualms about being the man to perhaps put the final nail in their Premiership coffin.

“We know exactly what to expect from Kilmarnock,” he said.

“They’re coming off the back of a great result for them at Hamilton, but we know all about them and likewise they will know all about us and what we’re capable of.

“We have to take positives from other games that we’ve played well in, like the win down at Kilmarnock the last time we went there.

“I live in Kilmarnock, but to be fair, a lot of the Killie fans are good with me because I’m a local boy. I’ll be keeping my head down though for a week or so!

“There’s no decision in there for me, I’m Partick Thistle through and through, I go out there to do my job and it doesn’t matter who I’m playing against – I always give 100%.

“Likewise on Saturday, I’ll be out there giving it my all.”