Keep calm and carry on. That’s the message from Jordan Turnbull as Partick Thistle turn their attention to what looks to be a massive game against Kilmarnock after the international break.

For the big defender though, it is vital that the Jags don’t think too much about the enormity of the match, and get back to doing what they do best.

That means turning in performances better than the one they produced at Fir Park last time out, where Turnbull believes they allowed the pressure of their winless run at the start of the season to get inside their heads.

After taking stock during this enforced break, the 22-year-old is stressing the need to forget about their current predicament near the foot of the table, and concentrate on the football.

And if they can produce the sort of performances they turned in recently against some of the top sides in the country, Turnbull is certain that the thus-far elusive victory will follow a week tomorrow.

“With the position that both teams are in at the moment there is no doubt that it is a massive game, and it’s a massive opportunity for us to pick up the points and create a gap between us,” Turnbull said.

“But at the same time, we don’t want to look at the Kilmarnock game as such an enormous fixture so early in the season. There’s plenty of time to turn things around.

“We have to treat it as just another game, and focus on bringing home the points.

“We don’t want to hit the panic button just yet. We’re working hard, and the only thing that’s disappointing was the performance last Saturday. Before that, we knew we were playing well.

“But it’s only one game, and hopefully we can turn it around next week and get back to the levels we had shown before.

"It’s been mixed emotions so far this season. We’ve put in a lot of good performances and for sure deserve to have more points on the board.

"It’s a results business though and unfortunately we haven’t been able to close out a few games when we’ve been winning going into the later stages.

“We believe though that if we keep performing well, then the points will come.”

Turnbull believes that the poor showing at Fir Park was a blip, but he was particularly disappointed as a defender with the cheap goals that Thistle gave away, and has vowed that they will have sharpened up by the time the Kilmarnock game rolls around.

“To turn up at Fir Park last Saturday and perform as we did surprised even us, so we had a long chat about it after the game and we’ve had a couple of meetings since to make sure that it doesn’t happen again,” he said.

“We feel really comfortable in the shape of three at the back that we’ve been working on, and we feel as though it was working really well for us.

“Then the goals that went in last week were really poor, and were disappointing defensively from the team as a whole.

“Added to that, we were poor going forward, which allowed Motherwell to attack us for large periods of the game.

“We’ve addressed that amongst ourselves though, and we will be working on it during training in the international break.”

The lack of league wins for Thistle so far has been the only downside of a hugely positive experience for Turnbull in Scottish football so far.

“It’s been a difficult start to the season for us, but personally, coming up here and playing regular football in a top division has been good for me and a great learning experience,” he said.

“Overall, I would have liked a few more points in the table, and I think we should have, but I’m really enjoying myself.”