STUART BANNIGAN has secured his place in the Firhill 100 club.But the Partick Thistle star insists he still takes nothing for granted as he sets his sights on further success for the Jags.

Bannigan has risen through the Thistle ranks to become one of the most important players in Alan Archibald's side.

After helping them to the First Division title two years ago, he is now an integral part of the team that has set its sights on a Premiership top-six berth.

At 21, he is one of the youngest players in the Firhill first team but has passed his century of appearances in red and yellow.

And the midfielder is determined to continue starring on the big stage for the Jags.

Bannigan said: "It's a good achievement. When you are a youth player, you don't think you will play as many games as that at this age.

"You think 100 games is a mile off but you put the work in - and I thank the managers for picking me.

My first game was against Clyde in the Challenge Cup. We won 2-1.

"What was I thinking before my debut? I was only on for five minutes so I was focusing on seeing the game out.

"I didn't want to get beaten but experienced guys like the gaffer Alan Archibald, David Rowson and Simon Donnelly helped me that night.

"The difference in me from then to now is night and day. You get belief and confidence in yourself.

"I feel an important part of the team now. Sometimes players look to me to drive the team forward.

"I've never been complacent about it. You feel more comfortable but you never take your place for granted."

Bannigan will take his place at the heart of the Thistle midfield when Archibald's side face Aberdeen this afternoon.

The Jags suffered their first defeat of season against Hamilton Accies last weekend as they shipped two late goals.

They got back to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Morton in the League Cup on Tuesday.

And Bannigan is eager to set the Premiership record straight at Pittodrie.

He said: "We were terrible last week, being brutally honest. We were miles off it as a team and individuals.

"We need to bounce back. It was good to get through a tricky cup tie against Morton in midweek.

"We will now go to Pittodrie and look to put on a good performance."

He added: "I don't know what went wrong against Hamilton.

They made it hard for us so maybe it was down to a good performance from them.

"We were down after the game. We'd made a good start to the season and wanted to kick on.

"There was disappointment for the next few days but you have to bounce back. It's not the end of the world, is it?"

Bannigan is not the only Jags star to catch the eye in the opening weeks of the new campaign.

His midfield counterpart, Gary Fraser, is arguably Partick's top performer of this season so far.

Both were overlooked by Scotland Under-21 boss Billy Stark when he named his squad for the Euro qualifiers with Slovakia and Luxembourg this week.

Bannigan admitted he was not surprised: "I've not been in the Under-21 squad for a while now.

"But I was a bit more surprised that Gary Fraser isn't in it.

"He's done well, he's only 20 and he maybe deserves to be in the squad more than me.

"Personally, I haven't been in the last few squads but you never give up hope.

"I will keep working hard. It is a strong area of the squad. It's always tough to get in."