JACKIE McNAMARA hopes Partick Thistle can become kings of the road when they travel to Stark's Park tomorrow.

The Jags went in to the international break in stunning scoring form after smashing five goals past Irn-Bru First Division leaders Morton, just a fortnight after hitting four without reply against Ayr United at Firhill.

McNamara's side have struggled for points away from home, however, with a battling draw at Dingwall their only reward from three outings, despite impressive performances against Falkirk and Livingston.

And the Jags boss is targeting a maiden away day triumph when they make the journey to Fife this weekend.

He said: "We have had three games away from home and only taken one point, which was up at Ross County.

"We were unfortunate at Falkirk and Livingston so I would like to try and get something at Raith Rovers.

"We have won our last couple of games at Firhill but it is important that we pick up points away from home as well. If we had lost to Morton then it would have been a long two weeks until the next game.

"The boys are looking good and playing with confidence at the moment. The ones who haven't been playing recently are striving to get back in to the team, there is a lot of competition for places and there is a good atmosphere around the squad just now."

Thistle experienced mixed fortunes at Stark's Park last term, with a heavy 4-0 defeat on the opening day of the campaign overturned in stunning style with a 2-0 win in March.

Rovers, though, pushed Dunfermline all the way in the race for promotion last year and McNamara is expecting another tough test against John McGlynn's side.

"Raith are always a well organised side," he said. "One of the advantages of us having the Morton game on the Friday was that myself and Simon could go and watch them on the Saturday against Livingston.

"We had a good look at them and there is a not a lot of difference between last season and now.

"They have lost Gregory Tade up front but brought in Brian Graham from Morton so their system and set-up is quite similar. We know they are going to be well organised and we will have to defend properly."

Despite struggling for form early on, Thistle now find themselves just three points adrift of top spot in the First Division as the first round of fixtures draws to a close.

Only six points separate table-topping Morton and bottom club Ayr after nine games and McNamara is targeting a winning run to cement their place amongst the First Division frontrunners.

He said: "If we could go there and get a win that would be great for us and another big lift.

"A bit of momentum in this league is extremely important because things are really tight from top to bottom.

"This is the last game of the first quarter and if we can finish on a high then hopefully we can have a wee push leading up to Christmas."