Alan Archibald hails Partick Thistle's fighting spirit

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald hailed the spirit of his side as they battled back to secure a vital point in a 1-1 draw at St Johnstone.The Jags kept their top-flight survival prospects alive with a last-gasp equaliser from the penalty spot at McDiarmid Park when substitute Conor Sammon calmly sent Saints keeper the wrong way.Thistle were trailing to a first-half header from Saints skipper Joe Shaughnessy before substitute Ryan Edwards was sent flying by Liam Craig two minutes from the end.The result edged the Glasgow side two points clear of Ross County at the foot of the table.They are four points behind Hamilton and Dundee in the battle to avoid the relegation play-offs.Thistle now face the Staggies on Friday and then welcome Motherwell to Firhill before heading for Dundee on the final day of the season.Archibald said: "We're delighted Ryan won the penalty and Conor slotted it away."It showed a real spirit. People thought we'd come here and win just because we have a good record here."But other teams have a lot to play for and St Johnstone were very good at stopping us playing."We didn't have any flow to our play and our levels were below last week."But the lads kept going and showed huge spirit."It's not just the point or the fact we are unbeaten for two games, which might sound a bit pathetic, but the psychological boost going in to the Ross County game is the biggest thing."It's a massive game for us."Almost overlooked in a dramatic finale, eighth placed St Johnstone officially nailed down their Premiership status for next season.But there was no masking the frustration of manager Tommy Wright, who was not convinced by referee Alan Muir's decision to penalise Craig for the trip on Edwards."The referee is adamant because he gave it very quickly," he said."I'm not sure he has a great view of it and whether or not Liam gets enough of a contact I'm not sure."But all round it is a rank bad goal and something that has cost us three points because we were the better side."We were controlling the game, not under any real pressure and should have seen the game out."