Thistle boss Stuart Davidson has given a stark warning to his players to improve their defensive game - or they won't survive in the top flight.


The Barrfields side threw away a valuable 2-1 lead against Petershill on Saturday which sees their Scottish Cup dream come to an gut-wrenching end at the quarter final stage.
In front of a bumper crowd, Conference C side Petershill netted twice in the final stages to destroy Thistle's hopes of reaching the semi finals.
Largs now face second bottom Blantyre Vics in the PDM Buildbase West of Scotland Premier Division - and are looking for an immediate lift.
Davidson said: ""The thing is the players have to learn from this or we won't survive. 
"If we get into positions like that then we give away cheap goals then it will cost us.
"There are no signs we are going to get over this until the end of the season - it is up to the boys now to turn this round.
"The winning Petershill goal - I thought we were going to deal with it - the Petershill boy gets a break but it has got to be dealt with better from our own point of view.
"We also need to be more ruthless in the final third when we are on top on games.
"The boys need to come out and get three points this Saturday against Blantyre - it is the only way to react.
"No draws or defeats - we need the three points pure and simple."
Largs have reserved their best performances against teams in the lower half of the league this season - and overcame the Lanarkshire men with a stunning 5-1 win in October thanks to a four goal salvo from Will Sewell - and they need to carry on from where they left off in that game.
Davidson said: "I have no complaints about the final result versus Petershill.
"As much as we went a goal down I thought we battered them in the first half and got the equaliser we deserved
"We came out the second half. Petershill changed their shape and it was a bit harder and we got our goal which I think was merited to go 2-1 up.
"But if you are giving away sloppy goals like the ones we did then you are not going to get to the semi finals of the cup.
"It is basic stuff - the players can't sit there and feel sorry for themselves when they have gave away three goals like that in the Scottish Cup.
"One ball over the top - the boy has finished it well - but we should have dealt with it better. 
"It happened in the first minute so we had time to turn it around which we did but to give away the goals after that killed us.
"There was a vulnerability - it was basic stuff balls to the back post - I can't complain about going out of the cup as it was our own fault.
"We should have had a penalty in the first half but we didn't - and we just went about our business and got the equaliser.
"I told the boys before the game it is the big picture - and getting through to the semis - but it is the wee things which matter like picking people up and doing your job and at those critical points in the 2nd half we didn't.
"Jack scored a great goal and he has got things like that in his locker but we should have gone on to win the game."
* The Largs Thistle v Blantyre game kicks off at 2pm at Barrfields on Saturday.