IF you were a Partick Thistle supporter who made the short journey through to Livingston - and the long journey back - on Thursday night, my thoughts are with you.

Dearie me, it must have been a tough watch for anyone with the Jags at heart. Everything seemed to be going to script at the start of the game, with that man Kris Doolan nodding the Firhill side ahead, but things soon fell apart. By the end, Livi had bludgeoned out a lead that if anything, flattered the Premiership outfit.

How long Thistle get to go by that title is now anyone’s guess, but it was hard to disagree with Conor Sammon’s assessment after the game that if they are to have any chance of turning the tie around, they must do it by playing football.

They got dragged into a game of hoofball against David Hopkin’s side, and if anything, it was the visitors who ended up going direct more often.

Thistle have long been associated with trying to play passing football, and to Alan Archibald’s credit, for the majority of his reign he has tried to remain true to those principles. A huge worry for me though is that after the game on Thursday night, the Thistle boss explained that he had instructed his men to go out and play in such a manner, and they were unable to do so. It wasn’t the case that they deliberately disobeyed their manager, but that they allowed Livingston to set the tone for the match, and impose their style onto them.

Thistle were reduced to lumping high balls into the Livingston box from around 40 yards out, a futile approach that left Neil Alexander in goals and the three defenders in front of him with the cigars out. It was painful to watch at times.

So, for me it is rather simplistic to say that if Thistle get the ball on the deck then they will be fine and should win the game. Of course they should, but Livingston are hardly likely to roll over and just allow their opponents to spray the ball about.

The ugly side of the game will still have to be done, and I actually thought that Thistle did fight and scrap well enough on Thursday. What they must try to do is win the battle, then allow their greater footballing ability to shine through.

They stood up well enough to Livi on the physical front, but then seemed struck by fear when it came to taking the ball in tight areas or trying to find a teammate with a pass.

If you are going to take Livingston on at percentage football, then you are going to lose. They have perfected a style that works for them, and manager Hopkin deserves great credit for the job he has done with a miniscule budget. They have an unmistakable identity, and my worry is that Thistle have strayed so far from their own so often this season that it is getting difficult to say just what their identity now is.

Another concern would be at the back, where the centre-back pairing looked anything but secure during the week. It was Danny Devine and Baily Cargill that were the men on the park on this occasion, but the chopping and changing in that area, enforced or otherwise, throughout the course of the season has led to the Jags defence having something of a soft centre.

But there is hope. Thistle have the better footballers man for man than Livingston. Firhill has a larger pitch than the Tony Macaroni Arena, and therefore, it would be reasonable to assume that the home team can stretch the visitors more on their own patch.

And despite the obvious anger that a sizeable portion of the Thistle support feel at the way the season has gone, there should be a big crowd there to cheer them on. The Hamilton game immediately following the death of John Lambie showcased just how special the atmosphere can still be at Firhill, and the team will need every fan there to put whatever grievances they have to the side and get right behind them. It was notable how many players commented on the fans giving them an extra couple of percent that day, and that could well be the difference.

The summer will be the time for post-mortems and the unappetising task of picking over the bones of a severely disappointing campaign, but on Sunday, Partick Thistle will need everyone pulling in the same direction.