Partick Thistle assistant manager Scott Paterson is fed up of seeing watching his side concede late goals, and has warned his players that Rangers have the quality to exploit any late lapses in Friday night’s match at Firhill.

Paterson was crestfallen as Thistle let a first win of the league season slip from their grasp in the closing stages of the match against Ross County at the weekend, although the point gained at least has them off the mark.

In both of Thistle’s games against Rangers at Firhill last term, they conceded late on to lose, and Paterson has told his players the onus is on them to maintain their focus or they will be punished again.

“It’s down to the players on the pitch,” said Paterson. “They’ve got to try to manage the game and manage the situation when they do get ahead of teams, especially the bigger teams.

“It comes down to mental strength, and they have to make sure that they see games out.

“It has been a bit of an Achilles heel, not just this season, but last season and the season before that as well.

“Call it what you want, whether it is switching off or just not defending your box properly.

“That wee lapse in concentration costs you, and especially against the bigger teams. They have the players on the pitch who will pounce on those wee lapses in focus.

“The game lasts for 90 to 95 minutes, and we have to make sure we are switched on for all of that time.

“They have been close games against Rangers at Firhill recently, and they only beat us in the last two with late goals, so they know it will be a tough game too.

“You always put pressure on yourself to do well, whether that’s the staff or the players on the pitch, we will all be doing everything we can to win the game.

“We certainly won’t be sitting back and thinking that it’s going to be a nice, relaxing game. We’ll be putting everything into it and trying to build on the result from last week.

“We want to put on a positive performance on Friday. It should be a very good atmosphere and off the back of getting out first point on the board, and the boys will be desperate to get our first win, especially at home in front of our fans.”

Paterson was heartened by Thistle’s performance in the Highlands, with plenty to be satisfied with from the game.

“It’s a tough place to go and while we were disappointed to lose another late goal, a draw was probably a fair result in the end and on reflection, I’m happy enough with a point,” he said.

“When you are leading a game going into the last few minutes, to not see it out is always disappointing, but I don’t think we are too far away.

“We got into some good areas on the pitch and maybe just our final ball let us down, but there was a lot of positives to take from the game.”

Not least of those was the performance of goalscorer Blair Spittal, who has now netted four times in his six games since joining the club from Dundee United in the summer.

“We were always confident that Blair would fit into the way we play, and I thought he was outstanding on Saturday,” said Paterson.

“He’s very direct, he makes things happen for us, so it’s been very pleasing for us and for him as well just how well he has done.

“He picked up that little knock, but he has got himself fit again and has really hit the ground running.

“Hopefully he can continue that for the rest of the season.”