JACKIE McNAMARA insists he won't push the panic button after seeing Partick Thistle lose top spot in the Irn-Bru First Division.

Thistle have led the way in the title race for most of the campaign but will end the year in second place after they could only draw against strugglers Airdrie United on Saturday.

It is Morton that now lead the way in the division after they defeated Dunfermline 4-2 at the weekend and McNamara knows his side should have done better after a Chris Erskine leveller gave them a point at the Excelsior Stadium.

He said: "I'd rather be top of the league at the moment but, I've said from day one, it's going to be a battle.

"Morton had a great result against Dunfermline on Saturday but there is a long, long way to go – we haven't even reached the halfway stage of the season yet.

"We need to focus on ourselves and not worry about what is happening elsewhere in the league.

"Our priority, with the players we have in the dressing room, is that we get back to winning games.

"It was a disappointing day for us. We didn't start the game very well and, in the end, we just were not good enough.

"We were sloppy and didn't start they way we wanted to. We did have some oppor-tunities but we were careless in possession or we didn't make the right passes at the right times.

"In the second half, we looked more dangerous once we upped the tempo and we had a few chances. We got the goal and we could have had a couple more but the big disappointment was the first half. The lads worked hard after the break but it was a game we should have won."

Thistle now head into a crunch match with Hamilton Academical on Wednesday as they look to avoid notching up a hat-trick of disappointing results at a crucial stage of the season.

Steven Craig's loan deal from Ross County ended at the weekend and McNamara faces an anxious wait to discover if he will be able to land the striker on a permanent basis when the transfer window opens tomorrow.

He said: "We are still waiting to hear what is going to happen. Steven is due to go back up there today but we will just need to wait and see what happens.

"As I have said, we would like to get him back here if we can but we need to wait and see what Ross County want to do first.

"If we can't get him, we will need to look and see what we can do.

"We have Elliot Christie out on loan and Mark McGuigan to come back after injury. We have different options, but we just have to wait and see."

REACTION McNamara unfazed despite losing top spot in table