Partick Thistle may still be battling to secure a top six place in the Ladbrokes Premiership but Niall Keown reckons the Jags should go forth and aim for Europe.

Should Champions elect Celtic also win the William Scottish Cup, then fourth place in the table will be rewarded with a spot in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League.

Thistle are nearer the upper reaches of the table than the relegation places and sit just six points behind fourth-placed Hearts.

With bottom dogs Inverness Caley Thistle visiting Firhill today, Keown is well aware that the tussle presents an ideal opportunity to both safeguard their top six place and keep their loftier ambitions on track.

Keown, 21, said: "Europe would be huge. Personally, it would be huge but I know how important it would be for the club. And we want to do everything we can to make that possible. It would be fantastic if we can achieve that. We beat Hearts recently who are fourth and they've not had a great time. But we can only focus on ourselves and see where that takes us.

"We are going to set our sights on winning every game we can. When I got here in January, the manager made it clear that our goal was to finish top six. Now we are there it's about staying there. We want to make sure we are still there by the split.

“It's important for us to put distance between us and the teams below us and Saturday is a good chance to do that.”

Since arriving on loan from Reading in the transfer window, Keown has been a key figure in the Thistle renaissance which has hoisted them up the table.

Despite a bump in the road last week with a 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup, Thistle’s recent league record reads played three, won three.

Keown, who made his Thistle debut against Inverness earlier in the year, added: "We have had good results and good performances. Things have been going well so it's important not to get too down by the result at Aberdeen. Things have been going well since Christmas and we've kept a good few clean sheets. We had a phase when we were not scoring but we worked on that then we started keeping clean sheets.”

Keown, the son of former Arsenal stalwart Martin, continues to enjoy his footballing education north of the border. The Scottish game may be different to what he’s used to but the Oxford-born defender is savouring the opportunities that have been afforded him as he hones his various skills in the cut-and-thrust environment of Scotland’s top flight.

He said: "I am feeling more confident as the weeks go by. The manager has shown a lot of faith in me. I've had a lot of bad luck with injury and I hadn't played a lot of football so I’m just delighted to be playing. I'm developing as a player and feeling more positive. It’s gone well so far and hopefully that can continue.

"It's been good. The pace can be quicker and it can be frantic. You play different styles of football and it can be a physical battle. You can expect a different game from Celtic to against Inverness. But every game is competitive and massively important. I've not spoken to the manager (at Reading) but I do speak to the coaches I've known for a long time. They are interested in my progress and they are keeping an eye on me.”