CROCKED Partick Thistle skipper Alan Archibald today urged Jags fans not to panic over the lack of new signings.

Firhill gaffer Ian McCall is facing the distinct possibility his one and only addition will be Queen's Park right-back Paul Paton, but Archie remains bullish as he recovers from cruciate ligament surgery a fortnight back.

"I would say to the fans not to get too uptight about signings. I felt between January and March we really showed a bit of consistency and played some great football and that was because the team had bedded in," he said.

"The manager has been very shrewd in the way he has gone about nailing down all of our younger players.

"Guys like Jonny Tuffey, Marc Twaddle, Liam Buchanan and Gary Harkins are all on long-term deals and will eventually make money for the club. But they are not going anywhere in the short term and will only get better next season.

"Where we might struggle is if we get a few injuries. You saw that without Liam we really toiled a bit up front, but hopefully we will have him back and ready to go.

"The gaffer showed with the signings of Liam and Scott Chaplain he has a great eye for a young player and, hopefully, there will be a couple in over the summer. So it is not all about spending big and going for experience."

With the Firhill coffers apparently bare, McCall missed out on St Johnstone stopper Allan McManus (Livingston bound) and fellow-Saint and ex-Firhill favourite Martin Hardie, while he has pulled the plug on a move for highly-promising Queen's Park top scorer Alan Trouten.

Archie, who has pencilled in a late October-early November return, added: "The key will be to keep our home form watertight next time around. We only had three defeats at home this season and, although that can get better, it is the number of draws that killed us.

"I think we had eight and, if we can half that and win four of these, we are eight points to the good already.

"When you consider we beat Hamilton and Dundee at Firhill we were not far away from getting it right. Given that we were a totally new team, that is not bad going.

"Next season we won't have to go through that whole get-to-know-you thing, so I have no doubt we can build on what we have achieved in our first season together."

As for himself, he said: "The first fortnight is all light exercises, but next week I will be starting hydrotherapy at Hampden and that will give me a lift. The surgeon was happy with the op and the name of the game is patience, but a return in late October is possible."