Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald believes that Liam Lindsay can improve even further if he remains at Firhill, and open up better opportunities in the future by continuing his development at the club.

Along with Archibald himself, Thistle’s young defender has been drawing admiring glances from clubs south of the border, with Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers showing a keen interest in the 21-year-old.

But the Jags boss has urged his protégé to think carefully before making any rash moves, as by adding some key facets to his game, he could potentially interest clubs even higher up the food chain.

“I asked him to work on his physique 18 months ago,” said Archibald. “He’s 6ft 4in and he was always a big brute on the pitch, but if you asked him to pick up a weight, he probably couldn’t do it.

“He’s worked on that side of his game, and now Liam just needs to be angrier and more aggressive on the pitch. I’m not asking him to kick people but he needs to use his size and strength more.

“He’s still that big nice guy on the pitch and that’s why he broke his nose earlier in the season. He didn’t protect himself. But he will learn that and he will get better and better.

“His options will probably be better if he stays for another year. It’s about progressing and developing.

“This year he has done that and his fellow professionals voted for him to be in the team of the season.

“If keeps progressing the way he has, he will have a load of options.”

Of more immediate concern to Archibald is the visit of Celtic to Firhill this evening, and he has told his men they have to shake off the malaise that permeated the defeat to St Johnstone at the weekend to have any hope of pulling off an upset.

“We had a word with the players on Monday,” he said. “They knew themselves that the levels had dropped. They are an honest bunch and are big and ugly enough to own up to it.

“Collectively and individually we went from playing so well against Rangers to not competing for every ball against St Johnstone.

“It can be hard to maintain the edge. St Johnstone had more to play for and it looked that way, but we are trying to get away from that.

“We ran Celtic close in the last game and we should have nicked another goal at the end. We need to makes sure we are ready for them.

“Celtic can blow you away. We saw that at Aberdeen when they were 3-0 up in 11 minutes, but there are weaknesses. We need to exploit that and we did do it at Parkhead the last time.”