Callum Booth is hoping to take another step towards the top six with Partick Thistle this weekend and gain some revenge over rivals Ross County.

The Jags resume hostilities on the Ladbrokes Premiership front after the international break this weekend as they welcome the Highland outfit to Firhill.

Last season, it was Ross County who dashed Thistle’s hopes of a top-six finish as an Alex Schalk goal in the decisive encounter in Dingwall gave the Staggies a precious 1-0 win and saw them pip the Maryhill men to that place in the promised land.

With four games to go before the split, Thistle sit in that all-important sixth place, two points ahead of nearest challengers Kilmarnock and six better off than County.

Booth, 25, said: “I think we needed a draw to get that top-six place and we lost. We were one goal away from it. It was such a bad feeling and a terrible journey back down the road. But we have a chance to put that right with three points that will take us closer to where we want to be.

"First and foremost at the start of the season you want to make sure you are safe. It’s about survival. You spend a lot of the time looking over your shoulder when you are in this position so it would be nice to seal that top-six spot as soon as possible and be able to look forward to the run-in.”

In the last meeting between the two sides, Thistle enjoyed a purposeful 3-1 win in the Highlands with a victory which helped spark something of a resurgence.

Since then, the Jags have mined a reach vein of form and have hauled themselves away from the bottom and into the upper echelons.

Thistle could have been in a much healthier position in the standings but for the concession of late goals in their last two games.

They were beating Inverness as the match slipped into injury-time only to be hit by a last-gasp equaliser from Gary Warren.

And the Jags were dealt another late blow in their last match with Kilmarnock when Connor Sammon stooped with two minutes left to salvage a share of the spoils and leave Thistle ruing another two points dropped.

Booth said: “That was two weeks running where we had lost late goals. You want to go into an international break with a win under your belt so the Kilmarnock game was disappointing. But the manager knows that we are are in a good spot. We’ve stayed positive over the last few days and we know the top six is in our own hands. We shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves and we’ve got four games to seal the deal.”

Booth added: “The break probably came at a good time for us. Yes, we were on a decent run and were picking up points but at the same time there were some niggles and little injuries kicking in. A few of the boys were struggling. I’ve been toiling with my thigh but hopefully I can be niggle free now and the rest of the boys have felt the benefit of the break.”