CHRIS ERSKINE believes Partick Thistle can handle any increased pressure on their shoulders this year. Alan Archibald’s side surprised many people by claiming a top-six berth last season and will now be expected to do so again this term.

Erskine, though, feels the foundations being laid at the club – including a revamped youth set-up and a brand new training ground in the pipeline – are signs that Thistle are ready to cope with the challenges of competing with the best.

The forward said: “There’s maybe a greater expectation around the place this season given what we achieved last year but we put that on ourselves anyway, from the manager, to the players, to everyone else at the club. You want to keep moving forward every year.

“This season will be tough with Hibs being back in the league and it will probably the hardest division we’ve faced since we came back up. But every year we look to improve on the year before and continually the club has managed that in recent times.

“This feels like a club that is building something. Behind the scenes there’s a lot been going over the last few years, and there’s a lot of good work goes on that maybe people don’t always see. That translates on to the pitch, too, with maybe a wee bit extra money being spent on the playing squad. There’s a future plan in place, too, with the training ground being proposed, and all the signs are pointing in the right direction.”

Thistle got their season underway on Saturday with a penalty shoot-out defeat following a 1-1 Betfred Cup draw away to Livingston. Erskine was the Jags’ scorer and hoped he could chip in with a few more to ease the burden on striker Kris Doolan.

He added: “It’s good to get off the mark as I definitely see scoring goals as being a big part of my game. I probably could have got more last season than I ended up getting as I hit the ground running and scored a load before the goals dried up a bit for me. So I should have had more. But I like to chip in with as many as I can so hopefully I can get more this season.

“As players we all like the new Betfred Cup set-up as it gets you into playing competitive games right away rather than playing a lot of pre-season games. They can often feel a bit fake. We never scored a lot in our pre-season matches this summer but I think that can sometimes just be down to the sort of games you have in friendlies. So it’s good to get straight into real football and, without being disrespectful to the teams in our group, we’re looking to put in good performances and maybe run in a few goals before you start your league campaign.”

Next for Thistle is a home tie against Championship hopefuls St Mirren on Saturday. Erskine added: “That will be a good test for us. We’ve actually got quite a tough group when you consider some of the other teams we could have got. I’m sure St Mirren will be looking to be challenging at the top of the Championship this season so there are a couple of stiff tests ahead before we start the league campaign.”