JACKIE McNamara hopes Partick Thistle learn the lessons of their Morton defeat as they prepare for a cup showdown with Cowdenbeath this weekend.

The Jags boss saw his side lose their unbeaten start to the Irn-Bru First Division campaign on Saturday as the Ton continued their impressive run with a hard fought Cappielow triumph.

While most of the SFL takes the weekend off due to the international calendar, Thistle have a Ramsdens Cup semi final at Central Park to look forward to, and McNamara is keen for his side to cut out the errors and turn in a typically energetic performance.

He said: "I said to the players after the game I was delighted with the effort that they showed throughout.

"It's not nice losing and it wasn't nice losing in that type of game. The fans really stuck with us right to the end and they applauded the players for their effort. I was just hoping that we would be able to give them something for that support.

"We'll just need to dust ourselves down and get on with things. We've a semi-final next Sunday to look forward to.

"It's a tight pitch at Central Park and we'll face the same things there that we did on Saturday. We'll need to defend set pieces better, especially corners."

McNamara was again without the services of midfielder Sean Welsh in Greenock, as the former Hibs man continues his battle to return from injury.

The Jags boss handed a debut to on loan Celtic forward Paul Slane against Allan Moore's side and admits he has a selection headache to contend with when all his stars are fit and available.

He said: "[Slane] has obviously just come in and he's getting his fitness sorted out. I want to have competition throughout the team and Paul's arrival helps with that. It makes team selection difficult, but that's the kind of problem that you want as a manager.

"Sean just trained Thursday and Friday and he is a really important player for us and the decision not to include him today was a precaution as much as anything. With a full week's training behind him he will be in contention for a place in the side next week."

Saturday's Cappielow defeat may have ended Thistle's unbeaten start to the season, and saw them lose top spot in the table, but there were positives to be taken for the Jags, with Ross Forbes making his first start for the club and Steven Craig scoring on his return to the side after injury.

McNamara said: "There's a really fine line between losing and winning. I thought in the first half Steven was excellent. He caused their defence all kinds of problems."