Blair Spittal is already feeling vindicated after making the move to Partick Thistle, and he believes he will thrive under the playing style of manager Alan Archibald.

Spittal was plagued by inconsistency last season while at Dundee United, but he doesn’t think he was helped by the direct tactics the Tannadice side were forced to adopt at times as their promotion push came to the crunch.

He knows that it is still early days in his Firhill career, but he was encouraged by the performance both he and his team turned in as he grabbed two stunning goals in the 5-0 demolition of St Mirren at the weekend.

And he hopes that as he improves his understanding with the other Jags attackers, he will continue to go from strength to strength.

“From day one I’ve said that the type of football that Thistle play is a style that attracted me having played against them in the past, and I wanted to be a part of it,” Spittal told Sport Times.

“I do like to play football, I’m not one that likes to play long balls or anything like that.

“At the start of the season at United last year we played a lot of good football, but it gets to that middle part of the season where it’s not often about the performances, it’s more about getting the results, and I thought that we did have to go direct and mix it up a wee bit.

“[At Thistle] we’ve got some really good players, and you saw their quality last season. On Saturday, the way the boys performed, it was really good to play in.

“We try to play a good style of football, and that’s one of the main things that really attracted me to come here.

“When you are joining any club you obviously have a point to prove, and I wasn’t coming down here with any thoughts of walking straight into the team.

“I had to make sure that if the manager gave me a chance I took it, and hopefully I’ve done that.”

The fact that his manager had sufficient faith in him to throw him straight into the starting eleven has been a major boost to Spittal’s self-belief.

“Confidence is a big thing in football and the manager has given me that since I joined the club,” he said. “I think that throughout my career I’ve been used in a number of positions, and I’m at an age now where I need to nail down a position and make that mine.

“One thing I need to add to my game is more consistency. It’s all good having a few good games, but you need to try and perform well each week.

“Even if you’re not scoring or assisting goals, you still have to put in a performance and put in the graft, and that’s something I’m definitely looking to add to my game.”

The two goals on his home debut on Saturday went some way to eradicating the pain of Spittal’s competitive debut for the Jags in the first Betfred Cup match at Livingston, where he saw his penalty saved in the shootout defeat.

And he hopes to continue to earn redemption in the eyes of the Thistle support with another accomplished display at Airdrie this evening.

“It’s obviously never a nice feeling when you hit your penalty and it gets saved, but it was important that we showed the right response against St Mirren on Saturday and we did that," he said.

“It’s important that we take that into Tuesday, and we can’t take it for granted because it’s against lower league opposition. They are going to see us as a scalp, and it’s going to be a tough game, but it’s one that we’re ready for.”