Partick Thistle comeback star Stuart Bannigan has backed his friend Gary Fraser to follow him back from a long period on the sidelines into the Jags’ midfield.

The two players were together almost every day as they have painstakingly worked their way back to fitness over the last 18 months, providing support to one another during some of the darkest moments of their careers.

Bannigan has now made his return to first-team action, starting both of Thistle’s league fixtures so far this term, and he has his fingers crossed that it won’t be too long before Fraser is joining him in the Thistle engine room.

“I don’t need to listen to his terrible songs anymore which is a good thing,” Bannigan joked.

“Gary is out of the gym now and he’s out on the training pitch doing a bit of running and a bit of ball-work, so fingers crossed for him it shouldn’t be too long.

“It’s been a frustrating time for him. He never had a major injury like a cruciate or a broken leg, it was more of a weird injury he had where they would struggle to pinpoint where the pain was coming from at times.

“He seems to be getting over that now, and he says he is feeling a lot better, so fingers crossed we see him back playing in maybe four to six weeks.”

St Johnstone midfielder Paul Paton has meanwhile admitted that admits he had his doubts when quiet man Alan Archibald made the step-up into management, but now believes he is destined to become a big noise down south.

Paton was still on the books with Partick Thistle when club captain Archibald was asked to take up the reins following Jackie McNamara’s departure.

The move surprised Paton, who was unsure the laid-back defender had what it takes to cope with the cut-throat nature of the job.

“I’ve been really impressed with Thistle so far,” said Paton. “They have a good squad and I think if you finish above Partick Thistle you’re guaranteed to be in the top six this year.

“I saw them the other night against Celtic and I was impressed with how Archie handled it.

“I played under him for the last six months of my time there. He was great for the short spell I worked under him. He led the team to the First Division title and has been great since.

“He had the total respect of the boys being the club captain but, to be honest, I wasn’t always so sure he would be right for management. I knew he was a good leader but he was quite a laid-back guy.

“He was a leader at the right times but he wasn’t always shouting and bawling.

“You rarely see him going nuts on the touchline and that’s his style. But, believe me, if he has something he wants to say he will say it. He’s definitely not someone you should be answering back to.”

St Johnstone may have Blair Alston back for the match, while Thistle welcome back Blair Spittal and Danny Devine from injury as they look to make it six wins from their last seven visits to McDiarmid Park.