Partick Thistle forward Miles Storey has backed John Hughes’ self-driven push for an interview for the vacant Scotland managerial post.

Hughes has been vocal in his own belief that he is worthy of consideration for the Scotland job, with Storey backing his former manager. Given that Hughes once told the Jags striker that he had produced the worst display he had ever seen from anyone in an Inverness shirt during his time with the Highlanders, it could well be that Storey’s backing owes as much to a desire to avoid falling foul with his former boss than anything else.

“He is very demanding,” recalled Storey. “He’s not scared to tell you if you are doing something wrong.

“I will never forget after we played Stirling Albion in the cup. We drew 0-0 away and he pulled me into the office the next day and told me it was the worst performance he’s ever seen by anyone in an Inverness shirt.

“He then just laughed and told me to get out of the office. I had a little chuckle about it and then thought I would go again and prove him wrong.

“But I saw his interview and I’m a big fan of his. It will be interesting to see whether they listen to him.

“He’s a great coach and he did really well at Inverness. I’m sure if you asked most of the boys who have played under him they will tell you how good a coach he is.

“Maybe people who don’t know him see it as outlandish but those who do know him and how he works would say he deserves the job. He’s a confident man and I’m sure if he was given the opportunity he would do well. He is very charismatic and knows what he wants.

“He would not be fazed by anyone’s reputation.”

Storey’s own considerations at the minute do not go further than Thistle’s next three fixtures.

The points gleaned from the forthcoming trio of games against Dundee, Hamilton Accies and Ross County will be pivotal in determining whether or not they find themselves fighting for their lives at the bottom of the table of whether they are able to sustain their top flight status.

“Our home form has been really good,” said Storey.

“We have lost to Celtic and Rangers but other than that we have been decent at home.

“We have also started to pick up points away from home as well.

“We are looking at this as a game we can win.

“This year the league is strong. You get a run of games where you play Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen.

“You do look further down the fixtures to see a ruin of games where you might get a lot of points from.

“We have earmarked these three games as massive for us.

“But, they will only be massive if we turn up.

“There is a lot of belief in the squad and we have a lot of boys back from injury.

“Before the Dundee game we won there was a bit of pressure as we were struggling.

“Now we are all feeling good. We are playing a lot better and have picked some good results.

“We used the last Dundee game as a platform to kick on and start looking up the table. “