FREDERIC FRANS hopes more Partick Thistle stars sign on the dotted line this summer and help the Jags continue on the right road in the Premiership.

Boss Alan Archibald completed deals for Callum Booth, Christie Elliott and Abdul Osman last week as he continues to put his plans in place for next term.

Thistle slumped to a 4-1 defeat to Kilmarnock on Saturday as they bowed out at Firhill in disappointing fashion in what could prove to be the last home game in red and yellow for several members of Archibald's squad.

The likes of Scott Fox, Conrad Balatoni and Stephen O'Donnell are also out of contract later this month, and are free to talk to other clubs about a summer switch.

The Jags are still keen to do deals with a host of players in the coming days and weeks, and Frans reckons there are solid Firhill foundations already laid for next term.

He said: "If you look at the last month, we have done really well. We had a bad spell in January and February, but it has been a good season. As you saw in the last month, if we are solid at the back then we have people who can score goals.

"If we can keep the team together then I think we can do something next year and the aim should be the top six, I think. Of course it won't be easy because people want to move up and try something new sometimes.

"We have seen some key players extending their contracts in the last few days and that is important. If you have ten new players next year, you have to start all over. It would be nice to keep the group together. I think we are capable of doing a lot.

"It is a group that, away from the pitch, are friends. We want to win and want to fight for each other. I think you saw that in the last month that that was our strength. We can play football as well. It is vital we keep everyone together."

After finding their form and securing their Premiership status in recent weeks, Thistle were brought back down to earth with a bump on Saturday.

A Jamie Hamill penalty, a Tope Obadeyi double and a Josh Magennis strike clinched the points for Killie as the Jags were well beaten.

A Balatoni header was scant consolation for Archibald's side, and Frans admits Thistle weren't at the races as they crashed to a shock defeat.

He said: "We weren't good enough. They were sharper than us and they wanted it more. It was a typical end-of-season game for us because the pressure was off and we were safe.

"We had a great run and you could maybe see it coming - but it still shouldn't have. You shouldn't switch off because, as a sportsman, you want to win every game.

"But it is human nature. We try to be 100 per cent, but things like this happen. Our strength in the last month was that we were more direct and [on Saturday] we had a lot of possession, but we didn't do a lot with it.

"Normally at set-pieces we are pretty strong defensively, but we lost two goals when we should not have."