DALE KEENAN reckons his loan spell at Ayr United helped him handle his Premiership return at the weekend.

The 20-year-old was pitched in at left-back for Partick Thistle's clash with Dundee United as injury and illness ravaged Alan Archibald's squad.

After featuring against Dundee, Hamilton and Morton at the start of the campaign, Keenan dropped down to League One on a temporary basis.

The Firhill kid endured a sluggish start against the Arabs but he recovered well to impress on his Firhill return and is eager to hold down a regular place.

Keenan said: "The loan spell at Ayr helped. It got me experience of playing competitive senior football. It's a better standard than playing in the Development League games and it's a difference pace as well, it prepared me well for today.

"I played a few games at the start of the season so it was good to get back in today and I can hopefully kick on from here and play more regularly."

Keenan was joined in the starting line-up by defender Liam Lindsay and winger Declan McDaid on Sunday as a much-changed Thistle side showed up well against one of the form teams in the Premiership.

Nadir Ciftci's equaliser denied the Jags a much-needed top flight triumph to leave them ninth in the standings ahead of Saturday's clash with Ross County.

"We are really disappointed not to take all three points to be honest," Keenan told ptfc.co.uk

"I thought we played really well, causing them a lot of problems. To be honest I think we really deserved the win but will take the point.

"I think we might have run out of steam a bit towards the end and there was a lot of tiredness in the legs.

"There has been a lot of the squad hit by the flu and a few playing have only just recovered.

"A lot of players who came in hadn't really played much so it was hard for everyone out there but we stuck together and thought we put in a really strong performance."