ALAN ARCHIBALD hopes Partick Thistle can get a jump start on their Premiership rivals for next season by securing their top flight status this weekend.

The Jags head into their clash with St Mirren on Saturday knowing that a win will guarantee them a place amongst our twelve highest ranked clubs for a third-straight season.

It took Archibald's side until the second last game of the campaign to secure their safety last term as they beat Hearts on a memorable night at Tynecastle.

After seeing off Motherwell and Ross County in recent weeks, Thistle now face the bottom of the table Buddies aiming to finish the job.

And Archibald knows getting over the line as quickly as possible would give him the edge in preparations for the new campaign as he plans his summer schedule and shopping spree.

He said: "It is massive to win this game as it will give us another couple of weeks ahead of the clubs below us to take it on again.

"It lets us plan pre-season and we had to wait until the last week of the season to sort it all out and it was horrible.

"If we win that extra couple of weeks will be vital as it will enable us to offer players new deals.

"I have a plan already in place and I have a rough idea of what I want to do and financially it depends on what position we finish in."

Thistle have emerged as one of the form teams in the country in the last couple of months as they have put together an impressive run to take them to the brink of safety.

The turnaround in fortunes came after a lengthy spell of frustrating form that saw the Jags slip down the Premiership standings as their ambitions of a top six finish quickly faded.

Thistle have always had just enough of a gap to keep themselves ahead of the relegation pack and Archibald is pleased they are on course to prove the doubters wrong once again.

He said: "I think people expected us to be there and we have used that with the players to drive us on. Before the split, we were the second favourites to get the least amount of points.

"That is a motivation and it all helps. We were the favourites, ourselves and Hamilton, to go down at the start of the season.

"We have been inconsistent and that is why we are down there. We have a good run together over the last few weeks and put a bit of daylight between ourselves and the teams at the bottom.

"We didn't do it early enough or get a run of results and that is why we are the team that buggers everyone's coupon every week!

"We have timed the run well. We had a horrible spell in February and March, it wasn't a good time.

"But credit to the lads, they have got themselves out of it and now we can go and finish seventh or eighth."

While Thistle are set for a lofty league finish, their opponents tomorrow are staring at the relegation trap door.

Gary Teale's side kept alive their faint hopes of survival with a 4-1 win over Kilmarnock last weekend but could be consigned to the Championship if results go against them this weekend.

Archibald said: "We won't be complacent but we know if we get a victory we are safe.

"That is what we are looking to do. We are focused on St Mirren.

"It was probably a good thing they got their victory last week. Everyone thought they were away and they were going to roll over but you saw what they done last week with a great performance.

"We are well aware of the threat they pose. We found out against Hearts last year, the pressure was off them and they came here and turned us over. That is what it looked like last week."