SCOTT FOX knows he faces a tough task to reclaim his Scotland berth after an injury hit campaign.

But the Partick Thistle keeper reckons national glove rival Craig Gordon is the ideal inspiration after he overcame his crock jinx and earned another cap call against Northern Ireland last week.

Fox was named in Gordon Strachan's squad for the friendly clashes with the USA and Norway in November 2013 but has had little luck between the sticks since.

A series of injuries and the form of Firhill keeper coach Paul Gallacher has kept him sidelined for long spells and saw him miss several Premiership encounters for Alan Archibald's side.

He now won back the No.1 jersey and kept successive clean sheets as the Jags beat St Johnstone and Inverness Caley Thistle before the international break.

And the Jags star is determined to keep up his form so he is ready for action if called upon by his country again.

Fox said: "It's interesting with the competition going on at the moment between Craig Gordon, David Marshall and Allan McGregor.

"If something was to happen to one of them and there was an opening then I would hope to get back in but there is a good group to choose from.

"Craig has done really well to come back after being out for that length of time. He always had the ability but it just shows you how strong he is mentally as well.

"It's ridiculous that he's been able to come back and perform at that level. He was honest enough to admit that he thought he might never play again so it's all credit to him."

After a frustrating campaign, there is light at the end of the tunnel for Fox as he looks to recapture the form that marked him out as one of the finest keepers in the country.

There are just eight Premiership encounters left this season - starting with the trip to Pittodrie this afternoon - as Thistle look to preserve their top flight status for another year.

And Fox is determined to play his part and hold onto the Jags gloves until the end of the campaign.

He said: "I'd be lying if I said that being out of the side wasn't frustrating, especially after being called into the Scotland squad at the start of last season.

"But now it's all about looking forward instead of looking back and all I'm looking to do is get a run of games under my belt.

"I'm aiming for 20 appearances for the season which, in the circumstances, wouldn't be too bad."

Having returned to the starting line-up and helped Thistle claim their first successive league wins in two years, Fox will now look to shut out one of the best forward lines in the league at Pittodrie.

Victory in the North East would be another significant step towards Premiership safety this term but the 27-year-old insists the Jags are taking nothing for granted in the battle to beat the drop.

He said: "We're not safe yet. We've won three of our last four games but the teams below us have been on runs as well so we'll still be in it until we get another couple of wins.

"Until we're mathematically safe, we can't rest on our laurels - not with our luck. We've now got Aberdeen and Celtic away in our next two games but at least we can go into them with confidence after our recent results.

"It's about how we perform on the day. We don't look at the other teams. If we do well and they don't turn up or make a couple of mistakes then, hopefully, we can capitalise on that."