Stuart Bannigan may have played his last game for Partick Thistle as manager Alan Archibald revealed the midfielder's season is almost certainly over.

Bannigan twisted his knee as he tried to close down Hearts goalkeeper Neil Alexander in the recent defeat at Tynecastle.

After consulting a specialist, the bleak prognosis was not what the player nor his manager had been hoping for.

With Bannigan looking set to leave Firhill in the summer upon expiry of his contract, it looks as though he may have pulled on the red and yellow jersey for the final time.

“He went and saw a specialist and there was still a lot of swelling and bruising around the joint, so the specialist said to come back in a couple of weeks and we’ll see if it’s settled down and we’ll take it from there,” Archibald said.

“But I think his season looks like being over anyway from what the specialist said.

“That’s a massive blow for us and for Stuart. Fingers crossed there’s not any longer-term damage than the end of the season but we’ll know in a few weeks’ time.

"It would be a really sad way for Stuart to leave under these circumstances, but that’s football I’m afraid. He’s a big character and he’ll deal with it and he has been so far. When you ask him he says ‘that’s football’ and that’s the type of attitude he’s got.

“It’ll kill him because he loves training every single day and being out injured he’s struggling to handle it.

“He’s a big character and he’ll get through it.”

The Thistle boss has meanwhile called upon his squad to approach their pre-split fixtures against the bottom three and Ross County with the same intensity as they played with against the top three recently.

He believes that the matches against Hamilton, Kilmarnock and Dundee United are the biggest of their season, and he is expecting his players to be up for the battle – starting at Accies on Saturday.

“It’s a key match,” he said.

“We thought after the last three games we’d know where we were but we don’t, it’s not any clearer.

“But these games will define how our season will go, whether we’re in a relegation battle or whether we’re sitting comfortably. We know that’s the case.

“We’ve got four games before the split and they are massive and will define where we’ll end up.

“They are against teams round about us but they’ll not be any easier than the last three we’ve faced. They will probably be more physical, more aggressive and maybe less quality from both sides because when there is more at stake it usually becomes more of a battle.

“Without being disrespectful to the teams round about us, as they are the same as ourselves, we probably faced higher quality in the last few games. But this time it’s more about winning the battles.

“The top ones are easy to raise your game for. Last week against Celtic it was on TV, it was a big crowd but these ones are key and it’s important we get the guys up and they are ready for these games because they mean more to us.

“There’s more at stake and all the games we now play become six-pointers, you don’t want to fall behind anyone. It’s a massive incentive as we go into the game knowing we can pull away from them.

“So that’s great for us but they also have a great incentive as they know they can go above us.

“We’re all fighting for our lives and there’s not a lot in it, it’s very tight margins.”