TOMAS CERNY admits his new Partick Thistle deal comes with extra responsibilities. The goalkeeper recently penned an extension to his contract that will keep him at Firhill under the summer of 2019. Now 32 years old, the Czech laughs that he now falls into the veteran category and that part of his remit includes helping the younger players in the squad, include back-up stoppers Ryan Scully and Jamie Sneddon.

He said: “I’m very happy to have signed an extension to my contract. It doesn’t change much, though, as it was always my intention to stay a bit longer at Thistle. But it does give you peace of mind to get it signed. We are committed to progressing as a club and so it’s important to have a few players signed on longer term deals.

“Personally, I just look to do my best every week. It’s hard to set any long-term goals, especially at my age! But I also like to try to help the younger boys as well. Ryan is still developing and it’s the same for Jamie who is just coming into full-time football for the first time. So it’s a case of helping if you can. I think that’s important as a senior player.

“When you sign a contract it’s not just about you playing but also taking on different roles and that includes helping the younger ones, even if that’s just talking to them out on the pitch. So that’s something I think about it and try to offer encouragement if I can.”

Thistle enjoyed a season to remember last year when they clinched a place in the top six of the Premiership for the first time and Cerny hoped they could go on to repeat that achievement. Reaching the club’s first cup final since 1971 is another aim.

The former Hamilton Accies man added: “The league is going to be stronger next season. So it’s never easy. If you achieve something good as we did last year then it’s never easy to repeat that. But it’s something we have to aim for. We have to keep the level of performance where it was in the second half of last season. With Hibs coming up the league is going to be even tougher so to get top six again would be an incredible achievement. But that’s what we’re going to be aiming to do.

“We have to keep looking to achieve new things so to reach a cup final would be an amazing thing for our fans. The cups in general are hard to plan for as it’s just one game and you never know what can happen. There are a lot of things out of your control.

“You get Celtic in the first round, for example, which would always be very difficult. But as a club you are always striving to improve both on and off the pitch. If I could get to a cup final or play one more game at Hampden that would be pretty good. I’m not sure what our fans expect but I’d imagine it’s for us to give our best every week and see where it takes us.”

Cerny starts the season as Thistle’s undoubted first choice stopper but knows that Scully will be pushing him all the way.

He added: “Ryan had a difficult season last year with two really bad injuries that kept him sidelined for a good six months. But he’s back to full fitness so I know he will work really hard and make it difficult for me to stay in goals. I just need to keep doing what I’m doing.”