STUART Bannigan has admitted Gary Caldwell may need to discard a sizeable contingent of his squad after Partick Thistle fell to their fifth Ladbrokes Championship loss in succession.

Caldwell was 13 minutes from earning a point on his home debut as manager at Firhill on Saturday until second-placed Ayr United struck for the only goal of the game.

The recently-appointed boss, whose side went down 1-0 at Alloa in his opening match, said he fears there is a losing mentality among the current crop at third-bottom Thistle and threatened significant changes come the January transfer window.

Asked if wholesale changes were required, Bannigan, who captained Thistle on Saturday in the absence of the injured Kris Doolan, replied: “That’s definitely up to the manager. If he feels he can bring players in to do a job better than the players at the minute, then absolutely.”

But the midfielder reckons there is sufficient quality in the set of players Caldwell has inherited from Alan Archibald for Thistle to improve.

“I think there’s enough in the squad,” he said. “There’s not been much in the games, it’s not as if we’re getting blown away – we’re getting beaten 1-0 and 2-1. Wee tweaks here and there and I think we can definitely turn it around.”

Bannigan said there was little that separated the teams on Saturday but was frustrated with the goal Thistle conceded. Ayr defender Michael Rose headed Declan McDaid’s corner in off the underside of the bar via Cammy Bell’s fingertips – though forward Craig Moore then bundled the ball into the net and claimed he wasn’t certain it had already crossed the line.

“There wasn’t really much in the game,” said Bannigan. “We’re disappointed at losing a goal from a set piece – it seems to happen to us a lot. We were taking a point against a team that’s flying right now and we’d [have been] happy with that. To come out with a defeat, we’re disappointed.”

While understandable considering recent results, the midfielder’s comments that Thistle, who played Premiership football last season, would have been content with a draw at home to promoted Ayr seems indicative of how far they have fallen. The Firhill club are seven points from a play-off spot in the table and just a point above second-bottom Alloa.

Bannigan concurred with Caldwell that a change in mentality among the Thistle players is urgently required.

“It seems to be that we’re a soft touch at times,” said the 26-year-old from Bishopbriggs, who had a spell on loan at Ayr near the beginning of his eight years at the Jags. “We concede goals too easily and we don’t come back from being behind. Things need to change if we’re going to climb up the league and get wins, definitely.”

While strong words were exchanged in the home dressing room, the only disagreement in the visiting camp was who actually scored the winning goal.

“I don’t know if it was over the line or not but I just made sure,” said Moore, who upon being told the goal had officially been credited to Rose, commented: “I’ll need to have a word with him. It’s clean sheets for him, goals for me. Listen, it makes no difference if I get it or not, we got three points.”

Moore, making his first league start of the season, said the fact that Ayr are now expected to beat Partick Thistle “shows how far we’ve come really”.

He added: “We’ve got a great bunch of boys in the dressing room. The resources are limited but there’s no point complaining about that. You do what you can on the park and it’s paying off.”