Partick Thistle defender Danny Devine insists there is no need for panic in the ranks just yet as the Jags prepare for a crunch encounter with Dundee tomorrow night.

Alan Archibald’s team travel to the City of Discovery looking to kick-start something of a recovery as they seek a first win in the league since the opening day of the season.

Thistle sit just a point above Dundee, who are bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership, but Devine only has eyes on those teams above them.

The Firhill side were left to rue Chris Burke’s injury-time equaliser for Ross County on Saturday which denied Thistle a much-needed win in a game they had looked in charge of until the last knockings.

But Northern Irishman Devine, 24, insists the Jags have wiped the slate clean and are ready to go again at Dens Park as they look to open up a gap between themselves and Wednesday’s rivals.

He said: “There’s no panic yet. If you look at the table, there are four or five teams within touching distance of each other. All it takes is a couple of good wins to get on a run and we’re right up there again.

“We know we are playing well, but we say that every week. We just can’t get it over the line especially when we are leading. We seem to drop a little deeper in the last five or ten minutes and we have to cut that out.

“We need to keep looking forward. The first 10 minutes shouldn’t be any different to the last 10. You want to press the game high, get the ball down, get it forward and create our own chances. We are maybe worrying now because late goals have happened a couple of times this season. We need to cut those out and we may just have be a bit more mentally strong.”

Devine added: “The manager is still calm. When stuff like that Ross County equaliser happens, and you’ve done so well for 90 odd minutes, then it can be hard to keep calm because it’s happened so many times. You could understand him having a go at the players. We can’t dwell on this too long because we have a massive game. coming up. It’s important to make sure our heads are not down and we go there with a positive approach. Runs like this happen in football. Lots of teams go through it. We just can’t get that win that pushes us on. We know we need a win at Dundee and it’s up to us to impose ourselves.”

Dundee are in the midst of a truly wretched run of form and Sunday’s 2-1 reversal at St Johnstone was their fifth successive defeat as they stayed rooted to the foot of the table.

The Dark Blues have also not won since the opening day of the season and Devine reckons the increasing pressure on tomorrow’s hosts could play into Thistle’s hands.

He said: “They are in a worse position than us. They are at home, they are bottom of the league and their fans will be demanding more from them. They’ll probably still come out all guns blazing but we have to go there and be resolute and take our own chances when they come.”