A quick glance at the Championship league table will spell out how tough a task that lowly Partick Thistle have this afternoon as they travel to take on runaway leaders Ross County in Dingwall, but the form table makes for more encouraging reading for Jags fans.

They may currently lie second bottom in the overall standings, but over the last 10 games, only County and Dundee United have racked up more points than Gary Caldwell’s men.

That may not mean much come the final reckoning at the end of the season, but it is providing Blair Spittal with encouragement ahead of another crunch game.

“It will be tough,” Spittal said. “County are top of the league, so we will have to treat them with the respect they deserve, but I’m confident we can go up there and get a result.

“The three times we’ve played them they have been tight contests. The last time we obviously chucked away the two-goal lead, and the second-half performance that day was the worst we’ve played since the manager came in.

“We showed in the first half that day though that we can certainly cause them some problems.

“A lot of football has been played since then though, and apart from the first 25 minutes last week, I think we’ve played very well.

“It has been frustrating that we’ve switched off at times and been punished for it.

“Since January and the manager brought in the new players, we’ve been high up in the form league, and we have to take confidence from that into the challenge against County.

“That shows we’ve nothing to fear from these teams. There is a real fresh impetus about the squad and there’s no reason why we can’t go up there and get the win.”

Thistle will be without suspended skipper Stuart Bannigan, but Spittal is confident their strength in depth can nullify his absence.

“It will be a big miss having Banzo out for the next two games, but we’ve got boys who can come in and do just as good a job.”