“For 80 minutes we were the dominant side and I thought the 2-0 victory was about right. I was delighted with the quality of Niall’s goal, delighted for Miles goal with Shinnie chasing and harrying.

“The start of the second half was exactly how I wanted it – getting that second goal, stopping Thistle enjoying the game but then we knocked off when they went down to ten men.

“You have got to credit them for that and when they got the goal you could never be sure that it was over. It was a wee reminder for us that you need to play until the last whistle. Rather than focusing on that ten minutes where we should have been doing better, we were the better team for the other 80 minutes and thoroughly deserved the three points.

“I haven’t seen Niall’s goal again but I think Peter’s free-kick a few minutes earlier maybe had the keeper thinking that the ball was going to go that side again but it was a brilliant bit of quality from Niall and he is capable of that.

“I thought he was outstanding today and he is so important to us.

“In general we had some good passages of play with our passing but it’s never easy in this league as we have found before with Thistle. We got them running, defending and we asked them questions and I thought we deserved the three points.

“We were missing a couple of key players with Jonny and Ryan out so it is good that we have still managed to get three points and still looked relatively strong.

“When a new player comes to a club that first goal is important, particularly with a striker. It was in the back of Miles’ mind. He is a player that the supporters will take to because he always works hard and puts players under pressure. He still had a bit to do after good pressing from Shinnie gave him the opening and he did what he did for Inverness last season and put it away.

“We signed Anthony and we knew he could play several positions, he would tell you that his first choice position would be centre back. But he can play anywhere across the back. He not only brings a bit of aggression but there is also a bit of confidence and composure at the right times. When he looks to punch the ball through the lines and pass, that is very important to us. He is doing very well and he will prove his worth to us.

“Ryan has had a bit of a niggle since the Marbor game. His knee has a touch of fluid on it which was nothing that we were too concerned about as we have been managing it. He has been getting through games without any real concern and he had a brilliant session on Thursday but then I got a knock on the door on Friday to say that his knee had blew up overnight and then it did not settle back down to the level we needed it to. We will scan it on Monday and hope that it is nothing too serious. But there is an obvious concern there.

“It was important we won today ahead of next week’s game against Celtic.”

“It was important we won today ahead of next week’s game against Celtic.”