ALAN ARCHIBALD has urged Kallum Higginbotham not to let frustration get the better of him as he looks to recapture his Firhill form.

The winger is one of the key men in Archibald's Jags plans, but has struggled to hit the heights of last season in recent weeks.

Higgy lasted just 45 minutes of the defeat to Inverness at the weekend and has admitted he is trying too hard to impress.

Archibald said: "I think he is struggling to find some consistency. He tries too hard and thinks he has got to do something every time he gets the ball. Sometimes he is better bedding himself into games. He needs to be more consistent and he knows that himself. When he is good, he is good.

"It is frustrating for all players, especially wide players, when you don't see much of the ball at times. When they do get it, they feel they need to make something happen, but sometimes that can be the wrong thing. It might be better just to move it and pick it up again."

Higginbotham was not the only Thistle star who failed to shine as Inverness eased into the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

The Jags turned in a shocking performance as they were dumped from the competition, and Archibald knows they must improve for the visit of Celtic on Wednesday night.

He said: "It doesn't get any tougher than Celtic and we know that. We have to go out and play much much better than we did, but in many ways it's a good game to have.

"There won't be any pressure on us as nobody expects us to go out and beat them, but we'll be aiming to surprise a few people and start paying the fans back for the performance on Saturday."