STUART BANNIGAN admits his glaring miss capped an afternoon to forget on Sunday.

The midfielder passed up a glorious chance to earn Partick Thistle a point against Aberdeen as he headed wide of the target from just yards out.

Bannigan only had keeper Scott Brown to beat as he burst into the area and connected with Ryan Stevenson's cross.

After he spurned his effort, Abdul Osman put a header over the Dons bar late on. It was to prove a disappointing day for the Jags as Alan Archibald's side suffered a 1-0 defeat thanks to an Adam Rooney first-half penalty.

Bannigan said: "Personally, I don't think I played that well, so I was disappointed.

"We had a couple of chances and could have nicked something. I don't think Aberdeen had that many opportunities.

"To not have any shots on target isn't good enough. I was three or four yards out and I need to be at least hitting the target from there.

"It wasn't to be, but I was in the right position, so hopefully I can get in there again.

"It is always on your mind and you wish that you could get a chance to go back and do it differently. You always want to put it right.

"It wasn't to be and you miss chances at times. I was just disappointed with my performance overall.

"With the teams below us losing, it was important to get a win and look to gain ground on the teams above us.

"But we have got a run of fixtures coming up we believe we can get wins from."

The first game in Thistle's sights is the William Hill Scottish Cup clash with Hamilton Accies on Saturday.

The Jags have conceded late goals in both Accies' clashes this term as Alex Neil's side won at Firhill and snatched a point on home soil.

And Bannigan is confident it will be third time lucky as Thistle look to book their place in the fifth round.

He said: "We always seem to get teams from our league in the cup competitions. It is just the luck of the draw.

"The top 14 teams all got each other so we want to get through because there will be a few good sides going out.

"There will be at least seven top teams not making the next round, so it would be good to get through and go on a good run.

"Hamilton have put the points on the board and that is why they are up there. We go into Saturday knowing we can hurt them, though.

"We scored three against them the last time, so we need to keep them out now."

Thistle may have been left with nothing to show for their efforts on Sunday, but there were still positives to take for boss Archibald.

Midfielder Gary Fraser got more match minutes under his belt following a spell on the sidelines, while Kallum Higginbotham was bright after also coming off the Firhill bench.

Bannigan said: "There is a lot of competition in the squad and the manager has many good players to choose from.

"You need to be playing well to get a game. Everyone will be on their toes and it will be tough to get in the team."