Christie Elliot hopes Partick Thistle can test Hearts
Partick Thistle defender Christie Elliott hopes to test jittery Jambo nerves even further when his side take on Hearts on Saturday.
The Jags travel to Tynecastle to face a Gorgie line-up still struggling to adjust to new head coach Ian Cathro's leadership.
Since the rookie boss took over back in December, his team have picked up just five wins from 21 attempts while surrendering their grasp on the Europa League slots.
Now Elliott reckons Thistle will set out to further test the resolve of the Edinburgh outfit by putting them under pressure early.
He said: "The start to the game will be massive, especially after the recent run they have been on.
"If we can start well it will hopefully quieten the crowd down and allow us to play our football. When we do that we know we can beat any team on our day.
"You know when you face a side whose results have been on a downward spiral that their confidence will be low.
"If you can get an early goal it dampens any confidence they have left further.
"Hearts are a brilliant team, though, so we will have to be at our best. The times we've played them this season we've done well to match them, so the first goal this weekend will be crucial."
Newcastle-born Elliott first joined Thistle in 2011 as a striker.
But this season he has re-invented himself as a marauding wing-back following boss Alan Archibald's switch to three at the back.
The move has worked in his favour and after registering 29 appearances in red and yellow so far this term - his best ever Jags figures - has now been rewarded with a fresh two-year deal.
"It's brilliant to get the new contract signed," said the 25-year-old. "I think this has been my best season since I came to the club and I'd always said this was a club I wanted to stay at.
"The club has developed every year I've been here so hopefully I'll be in the manager's plans for the next couple of years to come.
"I've changed position this season. When I first came up I got my opportunity as a striker. But I wasn't ever really a striker. Before that I'd always played out wide.
"When Archie took over we spoke about me more playing on the wing again and now as his formation has changed I've been shifted to wing-back.
"It's good to be versatile but I actually think I really suit this position as I find it really comfortable.
"The more experience I get playing this position I feel like I'm getting better and better.
"Just look at Victor Moses at Chelsea. A bit like me he struggled to get a game up front but a change of formation has opened up the opportunity at wing-back and now he's thriving. I can take inspiration from that.
"In the past, my problem has always been that I could just fit in to different positions when we were short on bodies. But like any player I want to nail down a position of my own.
"I suppose with the way that football is going, formations change all the time and you have to adapt so it can be useful having the ability to play in different roles.
"But no matter what position I'm asked to take on, though, I'll always give 100 per cent."