PARTICK Thistle may have had a season to forget, but defender Danny Devine remains confident the club can survive the relegation dogfight.

The Maryhill side head into this weekend’s final round of Premiership fixtures with the very real threat of automatic relegation hanging over their head.

Should Thistle lose to Dundee and Ross County pick up three points away to St Johnstone the club would fall out of the country’s top flight for the first time in five seasons.

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Northern Irishman Devine understands the fans’ frustrations at the side’s perilous position but insisted they are confident of ensuring their survival, no matter what it takes.

He said: “It has come as a surprise to most people especially us. We can’t point the finger at anybody except ourselves. We got ourselves into this mess and we will have to get ourselves out.

“There is still a belief and a confidence that we can get out of the situation. This is crunch time and it is our last chance to save ourselves from the automatic drop. We must give ourselves that fighting chance of staying in the league.

“It is hard to put our finger on the difference between this season and last. I could say injuries, but I don’t want to make excuses. We have not defended as well as last season for a start and we have not scored as many.

“The boys know we have under-performed and it is disappointing after coming off the highs of last season. The defenders pride ourselves on clean sheets and we have not had enough of them this season. It is not nice for us as players or for the supporters, but it is not over yet. Hopefully we can give the fans something to cheer about against Dundee.”

This season’s struggles have come as a surprise to many following Thistle’s top six finish in the last campaign. Tuesday’s defeat to Motherwell and Hamilton’s vastly superior goal difference means the Firhill side are destined for at least a relegation playoff spot for the right to play Premiership football next season.

Devine insisted: “We would fancy ourselves in the play-offs when you look at the teams we could come up against.

“If it does come down to that then we will need to make sure that we are in the right frame of mind and ready for the games.

“It’s easy to say it’s another game but it’s not. There is a lot more pressure on it. I think you just have to give it your all. The boys know what is at stake.”

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With many of the players’ contracts running out in the summer, including his own, Devine admits that the squad are now playing for their livelihoods. “I think it comes from the group. It’s easy to go and have thoughts in your own head of ‘what if this happens?’

“But once you come in to training, if there is a good atmosphere around the club and the boys know they are good enough to get out of it, then that definitely helps.

“The mood has always been optimistic and that’s a good thing. You have to keep believing in yourselves and keep trying to do the right things. Hopefully, you get a return from that.”

Their hosts have quite a different outlook. Dundee were in the thick of a relegation scrap at the start of the post-split run in, but three wins out of four mean this afternoon’s fretting will only be in the away end.

“We’ve done very well since the split,” said Dundee forward Rory Deacon. “We knew within ourselves that we had let ourselves down during the season finishing in the position which we did.

“But we don’t deserve to be where we are as we’ve got some excellent players in our dressing-room.

“It was consistency which we lacked and it did hinder us.

“If we beat Thistle that will be four wins out of five from the split.

“We want to make it three wins in a row and the gaffer has spoken to us about going into the summer on a positive note.” He added: “I think I’ve come on from last season when I was still down south. Overall, I feel I’ve done well.

“There’s most definitely a lot more to come from me.

“I can say that to the fans. That’s my message looking ahead.

“Hopefully, I get no more injuries like the thigh problem I had which kept me out on a couple of occasions this season.”