Partick Thistle supporters may be finally set to get their first glimpse of new signing Adam Barton in Saturday’s match against Motherwell, according to Jags manager Alan Archibald.

Archibald had been keen to involve Barton in last weekend’s match at Kilmarnock, but with him short of full fitness, he was reluctant to risk him on Rugby Park’s artificial surface.

But with a return to the grass of Firhill this week as well as the suspension of Abdul Osman, the transfer window arrival from Portsmouth may be about to make his bow in a Thistle jersey.

It is far from guaranteed though, with Archibald happy with the options he still has to play in the defensive midfield position.

“With our captain being suspended it gives someone else an opportunity,” Archibald said.

“Sean Welsh has been on the sidelines and Adam Barton has been waiting as well so we have a couple of options.

“Adam is ready to go but we didn’t want to throw him in last week on the AstroTurf because some of the English guys haven’t seen it in a long time.

“Adam has versatility. He’s a good player. So along with Sean we have options when we normally panic when Abdul is missing.

“We also played Ryan Edwards in that area last week and he did really well. I thought he was outstanding.

“We usually use him further forward but it’s a role he has played for Australia before. He gave us a platform to go and play last week because he won a lot of second balls and did so well in what you would call the ugly side of the game.

“He gives us energy in there and like all Australians he seems to have that natural fitness to get about the pitch.

“I think we will see the best of him now. He came in half-way through last season and took a bit of time to get going,

“But he did a pre-season with us and we are getting the rewards for that.

“He’s got a good CV because he played at Reading and he has captained the Australian under-23 side and nothing fazes him,

“He just wants to get on with playing football – and he’s infectious.”

Archibald admits that he is concerned about the attacking weapons at the disposal of his opposite number Mark McGhee ahead of the match against Motherwell.

He hopes though that if Thistle can nullify those players, then they will have a platform to hurt the visitors with their own attacking talents.

“We can’t just concentrate on Louis [Moult] because they have a potent strike-force and I think that was the difference between them and the rest of us making the top six,” he said.

“Motherwell did fantastically well last year and their front three had a lot to do with it.

“They have lost [Marvin] Johnson but they still have Scott McDonald and they have brought another player in so we can’t get focused on one player.

“We know their strengths but hopefully we can keep them quiet and get our forward game going.”

Meanwhile, the Thistle boss gave an update on the condition of regular first-choice goalkeeper Tomas Cerny, who missed the Kilmarnock match with a recurrence of his troublesome foot injury.

He said: “We made the decision to give him two or three weeks’ total rehab which was a bit complicated because we had a game on a Saturday, but now we have allowed him time to concentrate on it and hopefully he will be ready to go soon.

“Thorsten [Stuckmann] has come in with a great pedigree but he needs game-time. He played a lot last season but he has not had enough game time since the summer.

“So once he gets that he will be good competition for Ryan Scully and Tomas.”