AARON MUIRHEAD was given the runaround by Dundee United forward Ryan Gauld - then declared the teenager is the biggest threat Partick Thistle have faced this season.

The Firhill side suffered a jarring 4-1 defeat at Tannadice - with defender Muirhead drawing his side level briefly from the penalty spot.

But goals from Gary Mackay-Steven, Andrew Robertson and substitute Brian Graham would ultimately subject Jags to their fourth straight loss.

Gauld would emerge front and centre for three of his side's goals, too, and Muirhead later picked out the teenager as the best player in the country.

The Thistle stopper said: "That was the toughest shift I've had. The movement of that boy Gauld ... he is a brilliant player and I think he will go on to higher things.

"He is only 17 and he is running the show out there. Some of his touches were great, he has quick feet and he is really good. He is one of the best young players I've seen in the country.

"Then they have guys like (Nadir) Ciftci and they all seem to be working in tangent with one another. I think they will cause a lot of teams problems in the league.

"If United are playing like that, playing well, then not many people can deal with it."

Gauld unpicked the Thistle defence after just 90 seconds, slipping a pass to Mackay- Steven to fire the hosts ahead.

And Muirhead blasted his side for a sluggish start to the game.

He said: "After two minutes we conceded a goal and that's the last thing you want.

"It was unbelievable at times, what a great frontline they've got, but in the first half we never got going at all.

"We knew what to expect and I felt we could have done better, but we will learn from it and kick on again next week."

Thistle appeared to have learned how to cope better after the break when they pressed United and grabbed an equaliser from the spot.

But the Jags would be left short-handed in their bid to turn the match around when first Conrad Balatoni and then Stuart Bannigan were sent off.

Muirhead leapt to the defence of fellow-defender Balatoni as he felt the two bookings which led to the former Hearts man being sent off were harsh.

He had less sympathy with Bannigan, however, with the midfielder dismissed for a lunge on Mackay-Steven.

Muirhead said: "Conrad had only made two tackles in the game, but the second one was the right decision, he did deserve to go."

The latter will now miss Thistle's William Hill Scottish Cup clash against Aberdeen this weekend - a side which has left bruises on the Firhill squad already.

But Muirhead insisted that his team is up for the challenge and can get their campaign back on track in the cup.

He added: "Aberdeen are another good side, but we know what to expect. We've not turned up against them a couple of times, but I'm sure we'll be ready for them this time.

"I don't think anybody's panicking because the aim at the start of the season was to stay up. We knew we weren't going to win games like we did last term.

"I feel we've got the ability, the belief in the squad that we can bounce back."

Meanwhile, United boss Jackie McNamara hailed Gauld, who would hobble off in stoppage time after a challenge by Aaron Taylor-Sinclair.

He said: "Ryan was magnificent. He's got the ability to see the passes before everybody else in the stadium can see it."