Partick Thistle midfielder Paul Cairney reckons his hopes of making Wednesday’s crunch trip to Ayr United are 50/50.

The 22-year-old injured a foot in the 4-1 defeat by Dunfermline just over two weeks ago and was put in plaster with fears he had suffered a fracture.

However, a scan revealed the injury was of the soft tissue nature and the midfielder returned to training last week.

Although he has been able to run pain-free, Cairney admits he was still in some discomfort when putting his foot through the ball.

He said: “It is a big plus that the injury is soft tissue and not a fracture as we feared at first. So to be back in training less than a fortnight after the injury was a real plus.

“That said, although I was able to run and my movement is not restricted, when it came to kicking the ball, I was still experiencing some discomfort on Friday.

“But we had the weekend off and I will just have to see how things go over the next couple of days. Fingers crossed I will make it, but it is probably a 50/50 call.”

He has been a vital source of goals from a midfield that has not proven a rich seam for strikes this term, with seven to his name already; an impressive tally given it is the former Queen’s Park player’s first at First Division level.

Feisty in the tackle and always keen to get beyond his strikers, Cairney’s presence will be invaluable on Wednesday given that, sitting second bottom, Ayr – who lost 2-1 on Scottish Cup duty at Dundee on Saturday – are fighting for every point to try and overhaul Morton and rise above the relegation play-off scrap.

With Thistle playing Airdrie United on Saturday at Firhill, this week provides a six-point opportunity against the league’s bottom two that must be grasped.

The confidence that back-to-back wins would provide ahead of three fixtures against Dundee, Ross County and Queen of the South – who fill the top three positions – is vital.

Given that Thistle are on a four-game losing run that is their worst under Ian McCall, the need for a confidence-boost at Somerset Park is obvious.

Looking at the double-header with the bottom two, Cairney admits there is no point in trying to play down their importance.

He said: “We know Ayr and Airdrie are fighting for their lives but, given their respective positions, we have to try and take six points.

“We drew at Ayr on the opening day of the season and they showed then that they are a more than decent team, so it is going to be tough, but we just have to make it happen.”

Should Cairney fail a fitness test, it will be interesting to see how McCall deploys his troops. If fit, Stevie Lovell and Liam Buchanan will start up front, although the manager is known to have reservations about dropping Simon Donnelly into the middle away from home; his presence there would add creativity and also offer some goal threat recompense for Cairney’s possible absence.