Partick Thistle’s great strength last season lay in having a solid defensive base, but they often struggled to sufficiently trouble the opposition keeper at the other end.

It is an unexpected occurrence then that many among the Firhill faithful have spent the close-season fretting about their backline after losing key personnel, while the attacking areas look stronger than ever.

Ryan Edwards, who is vying for one of those attacking spots, is sure that manager Alan Archibald will have the Jags defence ship-shape by the time the big kick-off arrives.

He is even more positive though that his side are ready to take off the shackles and punish teams with the attacking arsenal they have at their disposal.

Fresh from bagging a goal in the pre-season 6-0 rout of Cirencester Town, Edwards told SportTimes: “It’s great to see the quality that we have in the attacking side of the pitch, and as long as we keep working hard and everyone gels together, then hopefully we can be really effective going forward.

“It’s always healthy and always positive to have competition for those positions, and there is no doubt that we have that now.

“I’m very happy with how the squad has been shaping up. We’ve kept a good core of the squad from last season, and I think previously Thistle had been changing ten to 12 players a season with a lot of people coming and going.

“It’s good to have that stability going into next season and I think it’s going to be really good.”

One of the new arrivals that Edwards is hoping to strike up a good understanding with in the attacking midfield area is returning Jags favourite Chris Erskine.

Erskine scored twice in Wednesday night’s friendly, and although Edwards concedes it is still early days, he says the signs are promising that a potent attacking force is starting to take shape.

“Even in training Chris has been great and he’s a good character to have around the team environment,” he said.

“He’s a very good player and even in the short time we’ve had together we’ve had some good combinations in the midfield along with Stevie Lawless and David Amoo, so hopefully that continues to grow and it will be exciting for all of the Thistle fans.

“Every one of us in there wants to do well, and it’s great to see a few of us getting on the scoresheet and pushing each other on.”

One of the pitfalls of having such strong options in attacking midfield is of course that the Australian might find himself out of the team.

After establishing himself in the side towards the end of the last campaign though, Edwards won’t be giving up his place without an almighty fight.

He said: “The start of pre-season is massive and it’s almost like first impressions count for everything all over again.

“Like any other player I want to start, and I think last season finished a bit too early for me. I think I started the last six or seven games, which was great.

“We’ve strengthened the team again in those attacking midfield areas, but that is a good thing. Competition is healthy, and it will be good for us as a team. We want to make the top six and I think that will help us.

“Personally, I want to keep impressing, keep improving, and try to really establish myself as a starting eleven player.”