Partick Thistle: Alan Archibald urges his side to stand up to Celtic's ambition

Alan Archibald's Partick Thistle have failed to win in three post-split fixtures

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald has urged his players to be wary of Celtic's threat from the opening whistle at Firhill.

Archibald's side were outplayed in the opening 45 minutes of their visit to Celtic Park last month before earning a 1-1 draw.

"In the first half, they nearly blew us away, we couldn't touch them," Archibald said.

"We touched on that with the lads. We can't afford to start that way."

Celtic scored three goals in the opening 11 minutes at Pittodrie last Friday night as Brendan Rodgers' side continued their quest to end the domestic season unbeaten.

The Premiership champions have won two of the sides' three meetings this season and they have dropped only six points in their last nine Premiership games.

They have also won all of their post-split matches.

"You saw the way they blew Aberdeen away in the first 15 minutes on Friday night," Archibald said.

"They are sometimes better away from home, they are a bit more dynamic and go for the jugular, so we need to make sure we start well and are well in the game.

"We know now that we have got a point from them and we can hopefully exploit some of their negatives. There are not many, but hopefully we can do that.

"We did well to get a point that night. You need to tick every box, you need eight or nine guys playing at the top end of their game, your goalkeeper to produce good saves and take your chances and we did that."

Thistle have yet to win a game since the split, losing to Rangers and St Johnstone and drawing 2-2 with Hearts at Tynecastle.

Archibald, who was linked with the managerial vacancy at Swindon Town, is still targeting a win for his side from their top-six finish.

"It would be a massive three points," Archibald said. "We just want to sign off with three points in one or two of our last games.

"We have got in the top six and not won a game and that has been hugely frustrating, so it is more about our pride."

Thistle would capture the headlines should they end the champions' season-long domestic unbeaten run.

"We are not really interested in stopping Celtic in terms of that," added Archbald.

"It is more about three points and give our fans something to cheer about for the end of the season."