Blair Spittal has already racked up a magnificent seven for Partick Thistle this season but the Jags man is not thinking about the joy of six just yet.

After a week-long training camp in the pleasant climes of the Costa del Sol, it was back to the auld claes and porridge yesterday in the snow-covered bleakness of Glasgow with a shift under the roof at the Toryglen indoor facility.

Since signing on at Firhill from Dundee United in the summer, Spittal has been an impressive campaigner for Thistle and has notched seven goals in that time. Alan Archibald’s men head into the second half of the campaign in the relegation play-off spot but are only half a dozen points off a top-six spot.

Having ended the year with a vital win over their rivals in peril Ross County, the Jags will start 2018 with a spring in their step but Spittal is remaining grounded.

He said: “The manager has warned us not to get carried away. We want to bring as many teams as we can down there and continue to move up ourselves. It’s good we are within six points of the top six. You never know what can happen. But it’s important to stay focussed. We are still in the play-off spot and getting out of that has to be the first priority. We have to get off to a good start again and build up some momentum.

“I’ve been happy with my own efforts. If you’d told me at the start of the season that I’d be sitting here with seven goals I’d have gladly taken it. It started well and the goals dried up a bit but I think I have been a lot more consistent and that’s been the most pleasing aspect for me. I scored 12 in one season for Queen’s Park, that’s the most I’ve had, and if I can get around that mark again, I’ll be more than happy.”

Thistle resume their domestic hostilities with a tricky trip to Dumfries to take on Queen of the South in the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Spittal’s own Scottish Cup memories are fairly downbeat. He missed a penalty in the semi-final shoot-out for Dundee United against Hibernian in 2016 as the Tannadice side lost out in the last-four showdown.

United were subsequently relegated at the end of that season and Spittal wants to ensure that doesn’t happen to him again with Thistle.

The 22-year-old added: “That semi-final is one memory that sticks in my mind. It would be nice to have a better one with Thistle and if we can go on a decent Cup run that would be good. It was a tough season with United that year. Going down at the end of it was the worst feeling in the world. The Cup run was a bonus and brightened the season up a bit but when you get relegated you can’t say it brightened it up too much. We’ve not spoken about relegation here at Thistle and hopefully that doesn’t happen. We are all staying positive.

“Our home form over the last month or two has been good. We still need to find that balance and pick up points on the road. Fortunately, we were never cut adrift and we managed to pick up points from the teams around us. That kept us in touching distance and that last game against Ross County was a huge positive to take into 2018.”