ALAN Archibald, the Partick Thistle manager, has admitted the 4-0 defeat to Ross County in Dingwall on Tuesday night was the lowest moment of his career in the dugout.

But Archibald, whose side is now bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership on goal difference as a result of the loss in the Highlands, has insisted he has given no consideration to his own future.

The Firhill club, who play on-form Kilmarnock at home in the league tomorrow, were looking to record a morale-boosting triumph over fellow strugglers County at the Global Energy Arena earlier this week.

But the heavy defeat means they have now lost seven and drawn just two of their last nine games and with six matches remaining they face a real battle to avoid relegation.

"It’s been a hard few days and the journey down the road from Dingwall wasn’t pleasant," said Archibald. "It was a hard one to take.

“It probably is the lowest I have felt in my time as a manager. There was so much riding on the game and it was a chance to get a six point gap on our closest rivals at the bottom. The manner of the defeat was as low as I have felt. We have to lick our wounds and get on with things.”

“Getting a lift was the incentive - and the fact that if we had won it would maybe have put a dampener on them. It wouldn’t have killed them off ,but it would have been a sore one to take. It would have given us a bit of momentum as well.”

But Archibald, who has been in charge of Thistle for over five years and is the longest-serving manager in the Premiership, stressed he had not had any talks with the Firhill directors over his future.

“I haven’t spoken to the board about my position," he said. "It is the last thing on my mind. The thing we are worrying about is getting a result and a bounce.

"We have to get it out our system and get a reaction against Kilmarnock. The game being so soon after is probably a good thing because I wouldn’t want to stew on that result for a week.

“You are looking for that one result, win or performance when you are on a bad run. If you get that then who knows where it can take you? If you get a few wins together then you start dragging teams towards you.

"We know one victory can turn things around. We are at home against a high-flying Kilmarnock team but there is always the chance to get a victory.”

Archibald, who has Danny Devine back from suspension, admitted that some harsh words had been spoken in the Thistle dressing room after the County game.

“We have said a few home truths," he said. "We had to show a bit of desire in the second half because the game wasn’t done at 2-0.

"In that position, the teams down the bottom are vulnerable if you get the next goal. We had no reaction after half-time and the decision making was poor after that.

“If you can get a victory before the split it means if you get a win in your first split game it opens things up. That is the beauty of the split. We can’t give ourselves too much to do and the other night didn’t help that.”