PARTICK Thistle may be safely inside the top six already, but they have no intention of downing tools when they visit Rangers in the last game before the split.

The Jags have not beaten tomorrow’s opponents since 1993, and they last won at Ibrox back in October 1981. But, at the end of a week that saw them announce plans for a new £4million training ground, assistant boss Scott Paterson reckons the squad are on a high and ready to kick on.

“It’s been a great week, not just getting into the top six, but the training ground news as well,” he said yesterday. “Our season doesn’t stop now, and we’ve said that to the players.

“We have to try and put as much pressure as we can on Hearts now. We’re going for a positive result on Saturday.

“We should be going there nice and relaxed, because there’s no pressure on us at all. The only pressure is the one the players put on themselves to do well - but you do that in every game.

“We’re not going there with our holiday hats on, we’re going there to try and get a positive results. There’s so much to play for, individually and as a team. If money is your god then you can play for bonuses as well as points.”

Thistle got the post-split matches they expected, with games against the top three at home. As things stand they are just three points behind fifth-placed Hearts, who they meet next week at Tynecastle. So if results go their way this weekend, they could visit Edinburgh knowing a win would push them up a place - which would be a great achievement for a squad who were rock bottom of the table at the end of last year.

“Cast your mind back to December when we were bottom but we always had that belief we would turn it around,” Paterson said. “We kept believing and we worked hard, and they deserve all the credit they’ve been getting.”

The new training ground, to be financed by the Weir family, is a dream come true for Paterson and manager Alan Archibald. In fact, as Paterson revealed, the players reckoned it was too good to be true when they were told the news earlier in the week.

“Before the announcement of the training ground we told the players, and they all thought it was a wind-up, to be honest. They’re all talking about it, and for myself and Archie we’ve always said we wanted our own facility and now we will – it’s great.

“It’s not just great for the first team, but for the academy and young players too. We were delighted when we got our current facility, but we’re lucky if we have it for three or four months a year. It’s not our own.

“Hopefully that news and getting into the top six can help us attract better players. We’re realistic and we know what type of player that we can afford, but it has to be the right player for us. The majority of the current squad are signed up already, which is a great thing for us.

“People talk about the top six as a great achievement, but for me this club reaching safety every year is an achievement in itself. It allows us to plan ahead and that’s a game before the split.”