PARTICK THISTLE'S Tynecastle goal hero Kris Doolan insists he had not given up faith in front of goal despite a two-month barren spell.

The Jags forward fired the Maryhill side to a point at Tynecastle on Sunday on the back of a run of seven games without finding the back of the net.

It was a period that would potentially knock the confidence of many players tasked with leading the charge for a team at the wrong end of the table, but Doolan said he remained confident in his own ability while on the hunt for his fifth goal of the campaign.

The 30-year-old said: “No, not at all. I’ve scored plenty and I don’t bother.

“They will come and go. That’s the life of a striker and you have to keep being there. The minute you let it get to you and you don’t score for a while you’ll disappear.

“That’s not me. I’ll continue to be there to score and miss. I’m quite happy, I’ll keep plugging away.”

His effort, which came in the 85th minute on Sunday, was just reward for an accomplished Thistle showing on what should have been an afternoon of great celebration for Hearts.

With the Edinburgh side finally being cleared to host the game after a last-minute safety inspection, there was a party atmosphere in Gorgie as singers and fireworks were brought in to commemorate the opening of the new Tynecastle main stand.

However, Doolan would have the last laugh.

He said: “We probably did deserve it but to be fair we have been on the end of so many late goals. We know how heartbreaking it is at times. We know what it’s like for them but it’s nice to be on the right end of it.

“Sometimes you have to embrace it. It was a good atmosphere and both sets of fans made a good day. There was a good build up.

“Obviously it could have been better the way it panned out across the week but the game went on. I thought it was a decent enough game even though it didn’t have a lot of chances in it."

While Thistle bosses have made their views clear on the decision to leave the call on the game right to the last minute by the SPFL, Doolan insists there was no distraction for those within Alan Archibald's squad.

“From our point of view it was fine as we just treated it as if the game was on. The manager stressed that to us. That’s the mindset we’ve got to have," he said.

“Until we heard otherwise we just assumed the game was on. We prepared properly and thankfully it paid off.

“It’s very strange. You play one or two games in a month then the next you play eight. It’s bizarre.

“There’s nothing we can do about it, we just need to deal with it.

“To leave Tynecastle with a point, you need to think people will leave here with nothing and Hearts will take points from people. From that point of view it’s a decent point for us."