The only way is up for Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald
Everything is starting to look up for Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald after rounding off the first half of their Ladbrokes Premiership season with a win over Ross County.
Thistle managed to avoid the dreaded bottom spot as the teams head into the winter break by beating County 2-0 at the Energy Check Stadium on Saturday.
Goals from Kris Doolan and Conor Sammon made it a third straight home win for Archibald's men, and he is anticipating the return of several key personnel after the break.
The Jags' season has been plagued by a number of long-term injuries to key players and they suffered two further scares on Saturday with Miles Storey sustaining a hamstring problem and Martin Woods also limping off.
But Archibald is unlikely to rush into any January business.
'We could potentially not sign anybody and get four players back after the window,' he said.
'James Penrice is coming back from Livingston, Callum Booth should hopefully be back for the first game and Abdul Osman, and Dumbuya should come back.
'That's not including Stuart Bannigan and Christie Elliot.
'That's six players missing, so if we get four of them back, we will be a lot stronger after the window.'
Andy McCarthy impressed off the bench for Thistle, claiming an assist for Sammon's late goal and showed a good range of passing to control the match late on, which led to Archibald ruling out a January loan move for the 19 year-old.
He said: 'We will keep him. We've had our fingers burnt with James Penrice going out on loan to try and get that experience, and that came back to bite us.
'We have left ourselves short but it's the balance to try and get that playing time for them.'
Staggies boss Owen Coyle has made no secret of his desire to strengthen his squad in his first transfer window since taking over, questioning the mentality of some of his players after going without a win since early November.
He said: 'There are certain characteristics we will look for to bring in, and there's no doubt that type will make us a far better team in the second half of the season.
'If you want to feel sorry for yourself then you are in the wrong game, this is a game that can be very vicious and I have told them that.
'I will accept the criticism when I know they have left everything on the field and I don't think enough of them did that.
'If they can't do that then we will change it.'