Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald says his side are down to the bare bones defensively as scans confirmed full-back Christie Elliott suffered ligament damage on top of his ankle fracture.

The versatile defender limped off after falling awkwardly following an aerial challenge with Hearts' John Souttar.

Surgery during the international break revealed the extent of Elliott's injury was worse than first feared, with the Englishman facing four to six months on the sidelines.

It leaves Thistle, who remain without a win so far this campaign, facing a crisis at full-back - with Mustapha Dumbuya, Callum Booth and Abdul Osman also ruled out.

"We are down to the bare bones," said Archibald.

"Christie went for surgery the other day and it was bad news, he's damaged the ligaments as well so it is four to six months for Christie.

"It adds to the list of full backs, we have Mustapha (Dumbuya) out long term, Callum Booth out and Abdul Osman."

He added: "It doesn't make us really strong in the full back areas, we are down to the bare bones. We've got Paul McGinn and Milan Nitriansky and we will go them.

"We just need to get back to playing football and make sure we are attack-minded on Saturday."

The Jags host Kilmarnock on Saturday, with Paul McDonald placed in temporary charge of the side sitting bottom of the Scottish Premiership while they continue their search for a successor to Lee McCulloch.

Archibald said: "I played with Paul and know him well. He's a good coach but I don't know much about how he is going to manage the team. It's just important we focus on Partick Thistle.

"We know a lot of Kilmarnock's players but in terms of their formation and how they go about their business we are not really sure so it's about how we are going to play and approach the game."