SEAN McGINTY breathed a sigh of relief after high-flying Hearts helped Partick Thistle get into the last 16 of the Betfred Cup.

But he insists they need to tighten up at the back and find their shooting boots up top after defeat to Ayr United at Firhill on Saturday.

Thistle faced a 24-hour sweat after flopping to Ian McCall’s side but Hearts’ 5-0 thumping of Inverness yesterday knocked out the Highlanders and allowed Jags to progress as one of the best second-place sides.

However, Alan Archibald’s side could hardly have got it tougher as they were paired with holders Celtic, even if they were drawn at home.

Former Torquay defender McGinty said: “We had to wait for the Hearts game to see if we were still in the competition and thankfully we are.

“We weren’t good enough against Ayr and we need to look at ourselves and we will go again next week.

“As a defence we’re not happy to have conceded two goals in a game so that’s something we need to fix.”

Thistle were behind in just six minutes after some kamikaze defending by Christie Elliott when he delayed clearing the ball, hit it against Lawrence Shankland and Michael Moffat pounced to score from close range.

McGinty missed a big chance with a header from James Penrice’s delivery then Shankland scored a sensational goal in 66 minutes when he smashed a 40-yard shot over Cammy Bell.

The Thistle defender said: “We started well and had a few good chances early on but then the mistake by Christie cost us the first goal. But he will learn from that and next time just put the ball out for a corner or a throw.

“We didn’t have the cutting edge we had in the previous games and then their striker scored a worldy and we lost the game 2-0.

“I should have scored. The ball came over the centre half’s head and I saw it quite late and I couldn’t keep it down.”

Thistle meet Ayr again next Saturday at Somerset Park in the opening Championship clash of the season.

The Honest Men impressively won all four of their Betfred group games but striker Moffat says they shouldn’t get carried away.

He said: “It will give us a lot of confidence to play them next week because they are one of the favourites for the league. We can’t t get carried away because the league hasn’t started yet, but we’re in good shape.”

He and Shankland are a potent partnership. Shankland has smashed seven goals already this season and Moffat has now nabbed three in the last two matches. Moffat said: “The first one hit Shanks and it fell to me. It’s hard to think what the defender was thinking and he just didn’t clear it and it just fell to me a yard out. 

“It’s my second tap-in in a week, but I’ll take it as they all count.

“I think we were the better team although the manager wasn’t happy that it was only 1-0 at half time.

“In the build-up to the second goal I was shouting for Lawrence to leave it for me but as soon as he’s hit it he’s away celebrating. 

“I doubt you’ll see a better goal this season, there’s no point in having ta goal of the season competition because I reckon Lawrence has already won it.”

The only down side for Ayr is that they have been drawn away to Dundee in the last 16.