PARTICK Thistle are sweating on the fitness of strike stars Kallum Higginbotham and Ryan Stevenson ahead of their Premiership clash with Kilmarnock.

The forward duo are both struggling with ankle knocks and will be monitored in the coming hours to see if they can play tomorrow afternoon.

Alan Archibald's side travel to Rugby Park on the back of Tuesday's League Cup win over St Mirren determined to build some momentum to move up the top-flight table.

The loss of talisman Higginbotham, who has scored twice for the Jags so far this season, and summer signing Stevenson would be a huge blow for the Firhill boss.

And he will give the pair as much time as possible to prove they are fit enough to play as Thistle target their third league win this term.

Archibald said: "We have got a couple of niggles, a couple of doubts.

"Higginbotham and Stevenson didn't train on Thursday so we will wait until today and give them every chance.

"They are two big players for us so hopefully they will both be okay. Both of them are ankle knocks.

"Higgy got it early in the game the other night and Stevo got one late on.

"We will give them every opportunity because they are big players for us."

Even if two of Thistle's most important players don't recover in time to face Killie, the Jags will head for Rugby Park hungry for success.

Archibald's side gained revenge for their late Premiership collapse against St Mirren seven days ago by knocking the Buddies out of the League Cup in midweek.

And now the Firhill boss has urged his side to find some consistency to get them moving in the right direction up the Premiership standings.

Archibald said: "We are looking for back-to-back wins and it something we need to do if we want to finish in the top half of the league.

"We have said before even if we are not playing great can we eke out the 1-0 wins.

"There is nothing wrong with that. We would take five 1-0 matches in a row.

"We had St Mirren on the ropes last Friday, but failed to put the game to bed and bad defending and a penalty has cost us the match.

"This league is going to be like that this season. Mistakes will have a massive bearing on the outcome of games.

"We just have to make sure we are not making mistakes."

Thistle's return to league business comes after a 1-0 success over the Saints that saw them move into the last eight of the league cup on Tuesday.

The Jags were paired with champions Celtic when the draw was made after Ronny Deila's side beat Hearts 3-0.

And Archibald is determined to make the most of Thistle's cup chances.

He said: "You just don't know what you are getting these days with Celtic as they have Europa League as well as domestic commitments.

"They may rest players due to their busy schedule and it is up to us to take advantage if they do. This will be our cup final, that's for sure.

"This is the hardest tie that we could have got but we will give it a go.

"It is a great tie to be involved in and Partick Thistle don't reach the quarter-finals of cups that often.

"Unfashionable teams have won this competition and it is one of those things I have drummed into the players in team talks by telling them if we could win two games we would be in a quarter-final."