TOMMY CRAIG is delighted the monkey is off St Mirren's back as he hailed his battling Buddies for finally getting their first points on the Premiership board this season.

The Saints squad eased the pressure on their under-fire boss with a terrific Friday night fightback at Firhill as they turned the tables on Partick Thistle to claim a 2-1 win.

It has been a shocking start to the campaign for the Buddies, but they are now three points clear of Ross County at the foot of the table as they prepare to return to Glasgow tomorrow for a League Cup clash with the Jags.

Craig said: "The players have been absolutely terrific during this spell. Coming to training, the way they have applied themselves, it tells me they believe in what we are trying to do.

"You got an example of that on Friday, they went that extra yard for one another. There is a great camaraderie between the players and long may that continue.

"Their attitude has been fantastic and, because of that, you end up getting a performance like Friday's. It was pleasing that we played some good football too."

Things looked to be going from bad to worse for St Mirren when Kris Doolan gave Thistle the lead at Firhill, but a Callum Ball strike and a last-gasp Kenny McLean penalty clinched a dramatic win for the Buddies.

Craig reckons it was no more than his side deserved after an impressive second- half showing finally got them off and running this season.

He said: "How Callum got it in, I don't know because it wasn't an easy one to take. He went on to have a fairly good impact on the game because he was holding the ball up for us, which wasn't happening before.

"Thomas Reilly came on and gave him able support and it worked for us.

"We felt in the last half hour that we were the team that was forcing the pace down both sides, particularly the left-hand side.

"We had one or two near things before we got the penalty that won the game for us."