ALAN ARCHIBALD hailed Partick Thistle's fighting spirit and defensive resolve as they ended their Premiership winless run.

A rotten run of form had seen the Jags edge closer to the top-flight relegation zone in recent weeks, but they got back on track in style with a 2-0 triumph over Dundee United.

A superb strike from right-back Stephen O'Donnell and an own goal from Jaroslaw Fojut were enough to condemn Jackie McNamara's side to defeat at Tannadice.

Having seen their advantage over the three teams at the foot of the table reduced to just seven points, victory on Tayside came at just the right time for Thistle as Ross County, St Mirren and Motherwell all added maximum points to their tally.

After slumping to a shock defeat against the Staggies seven days previously, it was a much improved showing from the Jags, who now head to Dingwall this weekend aiming to further strengthen their hold on a top-flight berth.

And boss Archibald was delighted to see his side step up to the plate as they got their first win since the 5-0 demolition of Hamilton at Firhill in January.

He said: "We got a reaction from the lads. I think it was badly needed because we had a couple of terrible results in recent months. So we're delighted with how the lads reacted.

"I thought overall we deserved the win. It was a great opening goal from Stephen O'Donnell. We had a chance before that, too, which we didn't take.

"But it was a great opening goal as I thought the chance might have been missed because Lyle Taylor might have whipped the ball across to Steven Lawless.

"The defence have had a lot of stick. It was probably the strongest part of our game during the first half of the season. However, in the second half of the season, we've lost a lot of goals.

"They've been silly goals, too, by playing in the wrong areas. But here it was different as our defence was outstanding."