KRIS DOOLAN hopes Partick Thistle's Tannadice triumph can inspire them to Premiership safety this season.

Alan Archibald's side ended their worrying winless run in style on Saturday as they clinched a 2-0 win over Dundee United.

It was a timely shot in the arm for a squad that had won just once since seeing off Inverness Caley Thistle before Christmas.

Doolan inspired the Jags to that success as he netted four times in the win over Hamilton at Firhill - a feat that has been rewarded with the club's Player of the Month gong.

Victory over United keeps Thistle seven points clear of the three sides battling it out to avoid the Premiership drop this term.

A trip to tenth-placed Ross County is next on the Jags' agenda this weekend and Doolan admits the Firhill squad have a spring in their step once again.

He said: "It is a totally different when you come in after a win and it has been a big pick-me-up for the boys. It was good to get that result.

"We move on now and we have got to take the confidence from a win like that and put it to good use.

"It is typical for us to get results in the games people might not expect us to. But we went to a really difficult place and got the three points.

"We need to take the positives from Saturday and look to build on it going forward.

"I don't think the boys' heads went down. But it is difficult when things aren't going your way.

"On Saturday, we have turned the corner and we need to make sure that it is not a one-off and we can build on it for the rest of the season.

"It is not just Thistle this happens to, it happens to all teams. It is about how you react to it.

"We have got to now take the confidence and momentum from Saturday and move on."

Despite ending a barren run of form with an eye-catching and deserved victory on Tayside, Thistle didn't have things all their own way on Saturday.

Wins for County, St Mirren and Motherwell mean Archibald's side failed to move away from the trio of relegation battlers.

The Staggies claimed a 3-1 triumph at Firhill a couple of weeks ago as Thistle inched closer to the drop zone.

But Doolan is determined to end County's three-game winning streak and give Archibald's side breathing space in the standings.

He said: "It just shows you how things go and what happens when you are down there.

"But we aren't focusing on other teams and what they do. We take care of our own business.

"We know what to expect this weekend and how they will play against us.

"It is important that we go there with the right attitude and use the win last weekend to our advantage.

"Jim McIntyre has gone in there and done well for them. They have brought in a lot of new players so it is a different team to the one that we played at the start of the season.

"It has maybe taken them a bit of time to settle in, but now that has happened they have shown what they can do.

"They are on a good run at the moment but we know we can go there and win the game."