Partick Thistle may be 10 points off the bottom of the table but Jags manager Alan Archibald will continue to peer over his shoulder until a top six spot is secured.

After last weekend’s meek surrender to Aberdeen in the William Hill Scottish Cup, Thistle return to league duty against Inverness Caley Thistle tomorrow aiming for a fourth successive win.

The Jags currently sit in sixth, two points ahead of nearest split rivals Dundee, and with Inverness coming to Maryhill, Thistle have a chance to both fortify their stronghold in the top half and move 13 points clear of their weekend guests who prop up the table.

Archibald said: “It’s a massive six-pointer. The first priority is to get away from the relegation danger area for good and then drive on for top six. It’s in our own hands just now but I know a few other managers will be saying exactly the same thing.

“I was at the Kilmarnock and Motherwell game last Saturday with other managers and we’re all thinking ‘I need to get points from you’. It’s dog eat dog and we all have a run of fixtures where we’re all playing each other so it’s a chance to go and put points on the board.

“It will be similar to the last meeting with Inverness just after the winter break in that we have a chance to open up a massive gap which would be huge and beneficial to us.

“We might have won that last game (it ended 0-0) but they have made a few changes since then.

“Billy McKay has come in since then and they look like the old Inverness, certainly in the games against Hearts and Rangers.

“I know they are bottom of the league but they still look as though they are playing confidently and playing very well.

“We have confidence from the run we have been on. It will be a different game because we are at home and the onus is on us to get three points.

“We had been harping on to the lads about turning around our home form and we did that by winning our last two against Hamilton and Hearts but we need to continue.

“Every game now is going to be harder than the one before with so much at stake."

In this pressurised, cut-throat environment Archibald knows how quickly fortunes can change. His Celtic counterpart, Brendan Rodgers, suggested the other day that there should be a managerial transfer window in an effort to curb the rabid hiring and firing.

Archibald would be in favour of that but is well aware of the panic-stricken reality of the business.

He added: “I would go along with him (Rodgers) and it makes a lot of sense but I don’t think owners will let it happen.

“It would give managers a little bit of stability which would be a good thing and you wouldn’t be panicking about your next result. It’s very strange that a quarter of the Premiership is without a manager but you can understand why people make these decisions because there is so much at stake.”

Thistle have six players out of contract in the summer and Archibald wants to sew up a top-six place as quickly as possible so he can start planning ahead.

He said: “I don’t know what my budget will be yet. The quicker we get safe the quicker we can go and do that. Last year we got within one point of the top six and ended up in a relegation battle. We’re in a position where we can’t plan until we know where we are.”