Partick Thistle v Inverness: Bannigan encouraged

Partick Thistle midfielder Stuart Bannigan is encouraged by his side's displays despite failing to win at home this season. Picture: SNS

Thistle have picked up most of their points on the road this season but they have two chances this week to claim victory at Firhill when they host Inverness on Boxing Day and Motherwell on Sunday.

Bannigan said: “Everybody is talking about it and we get asked about this every single week. We need to do it and get the monkey off our back.

“The players don’t really think about it when we go out on the pitch, we just go into it game by game.

“I’m happy with the way the team are playing just now. We are all young boys trying to play the game the right way. We go into each game looking to win.”

Thistle have dominated games against the likes of Kilmarnock and Hearts at home and not picked up full points.

“It’s got to come,” Bannigan said. “There have been quite a few games this season where we have probably played the better in and had the better chances but we have not taken them.

“But that’s part of this league, teams can punish you for one mistake.”

A similar scenario unfolded at Rugby Park on Saturday when Thistle missed a number of chances as they fell to a 2-1 defeat which saw Kilmarnock jump above them in the league table.

A six-game run without a league win - since the last time they played Inverness - has seen them drop to 10th but Bannigan believes there are many positives to take from their return to the top flight.

The Scotland Under-21 international said: “There have only been a couple of times when we have been convincingly beaten. All the other games we have competed well. So we have to take positives from that. And there are a lot of points to play for in the coming weeks.”