Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald admits he has been forced back on the hunt for a new defender after Jordan Turnbull's hasty recall by Coventry.

The Jags were assured by the centre-back's parent club as recently as last month that his year-long loan deal would not be cut short during January.

But that changed last week when the Sky Blues agreed to sell the 23-year-old to Northampton, leaving Archibald scrambling.

He is now desperately searching to find a left-footed centre-back to fill Turnbull's shoes, but he assured the Thistle support a replacement will be found.

"It's definitely a frustration," Archibald said ahead of Saturday's Scottish Cup clash at Queen of the South.

"We spoke to Coventry back in December and they told us they would not be needing Jordan back. But Northampton then got an injury and they have decided to take Jordan.

"It's frustrating for us as we'll now have to go back into the market and find a left-sided centre-back. That's what we're doing at the moment but because we're trying to get like-for-like it's taking a bit longer.

"Hopefully we can get it done sooner rather than later. A new defender is the one we definitely need to get in and we'll be getting in for sure.

"If anything else pops up we'll look at that but at the moment the main priority is centre-back cover."

There has been more positive news for the Jags manager over the winter break, however, with Thistle's horrendous injury list beginning to clear.

"Things are looking a bit better," he said.

"Callum Booth, Mustapha Dumbuya and Abdul Osman all trained for the full week while we were away in Spain and got a game at the end of it, so they will come back into the squad.

"We also have James Penrice back from his loan stint at Livingston. That gives me a welcome headache, it's like having four new players who have essentially been missing since August.

"They are ready to go but as they've been out a long time we will have to manage them."