Osman rues late lapses
Abdul Osman wants Partick to put right the habit of conceding late goals which has cost them dearly so far this season.
The Maryhill men have conceded against Dundee United, St Mirren and Hamilton this season - two against Accies - when the 90-minute mark has been approaching or reached.
That has cost them five points which would have seen them further up the table than the eighth place they currently occupy ahead of the visit of St Johnstone on Saturday.
The late penalty conceded at Tannadice last week in the 1-0 defeat was still fresh in his mind when the Ghana-born midfielder, who joined Alan Archibald's side in the summer after leaving Crewe, summed up the campaign to date.
He said: "It is going well for me personally but as a team we can do much better.
"For the team we have, we are underachieving.
"We have lost a lot of games in the last minute, it is not good enough and the manager has let us know and it is something we are looking to put right in the coming games.
"The game against Dundee United was very disappointing because the boys worked hard and we tried to play our football.
"We deserved a result out of that game but it didn't happen and as I said, it is about us losing games in the last minute of matches and we have to put it right.
"But it is a blessing that it is early in the season and we can put it right."
Danny Seaborne is suspended for Partick's Scottish Premiership clash with St Johnstone.
The Jags defender was sent off at Dundee United last week for conceding the late penalty which cost the visitors the game.
Kallum Higginbotham and Gary Fraser both sit out with knee injuries although there is a chance they could return next week.
St Johnstone midfielders Chris Millar and Gary McDonald are back in contention. But on-loan Yeovil striker Adam Morgan serves the second game of a two-match ban.
Tam Scobbie and Steven MacLean remain on the sidelines with long-term knee injuries.
St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has challenged his side to get back to keep cleaning sheets as they seek to improve on their slow start to the Scottish Premiership season.
The William Hill Scottish Cup holders have suffered three consecutive defeats and uncharacteristically conceded six goals in that run to leave them firmly in the bottom six ahead of their visit to Firhill to face Partick Thistle.
Their disruption up front has been well-documented - last season's top goalscorer Stevie May was sold to Sheffield Wednesday before main striker Steven MacLean suffered a bad knee injury.
But Wright wants his team to give new strike pair Brian Graham and James McFadden a chance of winning games for them by tightening up at the back.
Saints have only scored two goals on one occasion this season, so clean sheets appear crucial to their chances of three points.
Wright said: "We think we should have done better and we have been working hard to rectify that. We are in a run that none of the players and staff have been happy with but we are working hard to try and get out of it.
"I feel that there has been improvement in the performance and how much we can control games over the past couple of games, but we haven't got the results.
"We still seem to be making mistakes which are punished as a team, compounded by the fact we are giving away too many cheap goals. We have got to get back to keeping clean sheets to give us the opportunity to go and win more games
"We are losing games but of all the games we have lost I can't put my hand on heart and say that teams are totally dominating and giving us a tanking. That hasn't happened.
"The players know themselves they can play better, and I suppose that's a positive in amongst the poor results, that we know we can be better and we know that if we get to the level we can then we will start picking up points.
"But we have got to start winning games and getting ourselves the best opportunity to win games. That starts with the whole team performing and not conceding goals. With Brian in and James coming in, we can always nick a goal."
Source: PA
