ALAN ARCHIBALD has revealed referee chief John Fleming has apologised over the offside howler that cost Partick Thistle dear at Tannadice.

Whistler Steven McLean and his team failed to stop play when Nadir Ciftci burst through on goal, despite the Dundee United forward clearly being in an offside position.

After penalising Dan Seaborne for a foul on the forward, and sending the Jags skipper off, Ciftci compounded Thistle's misery as he converted from the spot to clinch a 1-0 win.

The decision infuriated boss Archibald, who spoke to SFA refs supremo Fleming to seek clarity on the controversial call.

Thistle return to action against St Johnstone tomorrow afternoon and Archibald admits the manner of their defeat on Tayside was tough to take.

He said: "We got a decision against us that was two yards offside and nothing has really been made of it. It was a complete error from the linesman and he has now told us that.

"I phoned John Fleming and he said: 'It was the wrong decision … all we can do is ­apologise.' That's what happens, he's only human, but it doesn't make it any easier for us to take.

"It doesn't make it any better as we've lost our centre-half because of that incident too.

"It's no consolation for us - or Dan Seaborne. He's been sent off for making a challenge on Nadir Ciftci, who is two yards in front of him. We can't appeal it. It's a different phase of play.

"We move on. As a manager, there's nothing you can do about it. I think there's a queue on a Monday morning to speak to John if anything goes wrong.

"It's the first time I've bothered but I wanted to get the ruling on it and he was offside. It's hard when you have put so much into the game but we have to take the positives."

Stopper Seaborne is not the only big name who will be absent for Thistle tomorrow, with midfielder Gary Fraser and forward Kallum Higginbotham still sidelined through injury.

The pair are making good progress on the road to recovery, however, as is Sean Welsh. The skipper has not featured for the Jags first team in almost a year but has returned to training with Archibald's squad and recently turned out for the Firhill second string.

Higginbotham could return to action when Thistle face Hamilton Accies next week but Welsh and Fraser will need a bit more time on the comeback trail.

ARCHIBALD said: "Sean needs some game time but he's around the squad just now.

"He's been training for the last few weeks and it's been a bit frustrating that we didn't have a 20s game for him this week.

"We will take our time with him and see how it goes. He's come through everything fine but we will see how it goes.

"Kallum started running this week after his operation, as has Gary Fraser. We should have a full squad soon.

"Higgy's made a good recovery and the physio's biggest problem is trying to rein him in but hopefully he is back next week."