Tomas Cerny has admitted he is concerned about Partick Thistle becoming cut adrift at the bottom of the Premiership, after Saturday’s defeat to Hibs saw them fall four points behind Ross County and Kilmarnock at the foot of the table.

An Adam Barton own goal was all that separated the sides at Firhill, and while Cerny took plenty of positives from the Jags performance, it was Hibs who left with the spoils.

Thistle travel to take on Killie next week, and the magnitude of that game, as well as the rest of a hectic December schedule, isn’t lost on the Czech goalkeeper.

“We have big games coming up this month and need to get ready for that and get on a winning run,” Cerny said.

“Kilmarnock will be big, for sure, and the other results haven’t gone for us. You wouldn’t expect Hamilton and Dundee to beat Rangers inside a week.

“It’s not ideal and the results at the weekend again mean we’re slightly adrift. We need to make sure we pick up points soon and stay in touch with the other teams.

“There’s many games still to play and we must prepare. The performance was very positive and if we perform like that in every match we will pick up points.

“If you see the table and number of games we will play it makes it an important month. We play the teams around us and a couple of wins would get us back on track.

“But if we have a couple of defeats we will be really struggling so we know where we stand, and we must prepare and do our best.

“Every game should have the same importance but from the outside this look more important because of the situation in the table.”

Cerny felt that he may have saved teammate Barton’s misplaced header had he not slipped as he tried to adjust his feet to get across to the ball, summing up the luck that Thistle had on the day.

“It was difficult to lose in that fashion,” he said. “We played really well, it was one of our best games in terms of passing the ball and keeping the ball and we created a couple of chances.

“To lose to an own goal is very disappointing. I might have got to the ball if I hadn’t slipped. It went in at the post, so I might not have got there but I would have had a chance.

“We didn’t defend the box well and conceded a cheap goal and couldn’t score at the other end so it’s tough.”

Cerny, like the rest of his Thistle teammates, is taking heart from the way they turned around a similarly perilous situation this time last season, but he has warned that there are no guarantees they will be able to emulate such a run this time around.

“The way we turned it around last season gives us confidence, but it doesn’t mean anything unless you do it on the pitch,” he said.

“Yes, we did it last season but we need hard work and luck to get on a little run. We know winning two or three games in this league changes a lot and we need to aim for that.

“Last season we went to Dingwall on December 23rd and we won the game. That was a very important moment, or we would have been left with a lot to do but we took confidence and went on a run.

“We finished the year quite well and came back after the winter break and had a very good run and managed to get top six.

“It’s much more difficult to get top six because you have five or six really big clubs and every game is very competitive and I expect the league to be quite tight until the end.”