Kris Doolan has revealed how a half-time rollicking from manager Alan Archibald spurred Partick Thistle on to keep their top-six hopes alive with the win over Dundee United.

Doolan grabbed the only goal of the game with 20 minutes left at Firhill, reading David Amoo’s dummy from Mustapha Dumbuya’s cutback to slam the ball emphatically home.

It earned Thistle what had looked an unlikely three points at half-time, as United dominated a one-sided opening period and spurned numerous golden opportunities.

The Jags showed their fortitude though to take the upper-hand in the second-half, and they now travel to Dingwall on Saturday with it all to play for as they chase a top-half finish.

Hero of the night Doolan was unable to share exactly what the Thistle boss had said to his players in a family newspaper, but he praised his manager for the impact his words had made.

“He let us know just what he thought anyway,” Doolan laughed. “It wasn’t good enough.

“I thought we were better in the second half though and it was nice to score the winner.

“I’ve seen the gaffer angry a few times, but he gets his message across and he does it properly.

“He was shouting a bit, but he puts his message across and the boys take it on board. I think you could see that in the second half.

“He was definitely disappointed in us in the first half, we just didn’t start at all and Dundee United had three, four or maybe five good chances to score.

“Luckily for us they never took any of them and we managed to punish them for it.”

Doolan was handed his first start since the defeat at Fir Park towards the end of February against United, and he hopes he has done enough to secure his place for Saturday’s crunch match with Ross County.

“It was good to be back starting and to cap it off with a goal was magic,” he said.

“I thought I was coming off, I saw Ryan Edwards lining up to come on and I thought it would probably be me.

“Luckily the chance came along and I managed to put it in the back of the net. That’s why I’m there, to score goals.”

Doolan isn’t bothered that the Jags’ achievements this year seem to have slipped under the radar somewhat, but he is sure a win on Saturday to cement Thistle’s status as one of the top six sides in the country would turn heads.

“That was another big game and now we got to Dingwall with something to play for,” he said.

“Saturday is a massive game for us. It would be a huge achievement for us to get into the top six and that’s what we’re aiming for.

“It’s what we should be looking at, we want to establish ourselves. We shouldn’t always be looking down the way.

“We want to be looking up, and that win gives us a good base to do that.

“Fair play to the other teams, they’ve got credit where it’s due, but maybe we don’t get the credit we deserve.

“We’ll just keep plodding away though and see where we are at the end of the season.”