Partick Thistle would argue they are due a rub of the green this season, particularly after they had a perfectly good winner ruled out for offside against Hamilton on Saturday.

But midfielder Chris Erskine believes that the reason the Jags haven’t picked up as many points as they feel they should have is more down to slack play at both ends of the field.

That has been a particular Achilles heel against the larger teams in the league according to Erskine, and he has called upon his teammates to rectify that trend against Celtic on Friday night.

“We’ve spoken about how we have struggled against the bigger teams, and I think it’s down to a bit of everything really,” Erskine said.

“It’s been a combination of poor defending, sloppy finishing and a bit of bad luck as well.

“You saw a couple of weeks ago against Rangers that we were one-nil up with about five minutes to go and we end up losing the game. These things shouldn’t happen.

“It’s not all down to bad luck, it’s down to the players as well and managing the games as best as you can. Obviously the top teams are the hardest to play against, but we’ll be going into each one believing we can win and if we do better at the back and take our chances then you never know.

“One of the main reasons we wanted the three points on Saturday against a team round about us is that we know we are coming into a tough run of games now.

“Most people will be writing us off for the games against Celtic and against Hearts as well, but we need to be confident. You can’t turn up to these games thinking you’re going to get beat, and we certainly don’t think that.

“Anything can happen, and if we can keep it tight against these teams then we’ll hopefully be able to take our chances when they arrive.”

There won’t be many outside of Maryhill that believe Thistle can defeat Brendan Rodgers’ men under the lights at Firhill on Friday, and Erksine concedes that their opponents are formidable.

He has been impressed by the Hoops this season, but hopes that the big game atmosphere can lift both he and his teammates to produce a shock result.

“We haven’t played them yet, but they look to be on a different level to where they were before,” he said.

“In the games I’ve seen they look excellent and they’ve got quality all over the pitch. Their manager has brought in players that have improved the squad and he seems to be getting the best out of the ones who were there before.

“It’s going to be tough, that’s for sure, and I’m sure that every team who has played Celtic this season would say the same.

“It’s one that you don’t really have to get yourself up for, it takes care of itself and sometimes with the wee bit more adrenaline in your body you can actually play better in these games.

“They are the most enjoyable ones to play in in front of what will probably be a full house under the lights. We’re really looking forward to it.”

Erskine helped to bring the Jags back from a one-goal deficit after coming on as a substitute in the draw at Hamilton last week, and he hopes his cameo can convince manager Alan Archibald he is worth a start against Celtic.

He said: “I was quite pleased with the impact I made after coming on, that’s what you want to do as a substitute, although I’d rather obviously bee playing from the start every week.

“When you are a sub though you’ve got to get it into your head that you might come on and try to do something in the game.

“It was nice to make a contribution after coming on and hopefully I can get a start on Friday night.”