Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald saw his side fall to a 1-0 home defeat against Kilmarnock and said his defence has to improve quickly.

A Stuart Findlay goal separated the sides at Firhill and kept Thistle at the foot of the Premiership table. The match was the fifth consecutive game without a Thistle goal but the boss says tightening up at the back is more important than worrying about his attack.

"We started brightly enough, Kilmarnock came into the game and got their goal from poor defending by us," Archibald said.

"It is so simple. We are set up for the set play, the boy Jones is a threat and we didn't stand on him and allowed the cross into the box.

"But the reaction at half-time was positive and there was a desire to get back into the game. You can see things aren't quite falling for us.

"Yes, of course it (lack of goals) is a concern is but the bigger concern is keeping them out. It gives you something to build on.

"I have said that all year. It makes a difference if you are at the bottom end of the table, if you can keep clean sheets, you can build on it, give the rest of the lads confidence and maybe go and nick a goal."

Kilmarnock boss Steve Clarke was pleased with his side's endeavour but said they weren't at their best. He highlighted the approach Archibald had outlined, praising defenders Findlay and Kirk Broadfoot and appreciating the moment of quality that settled the game.

"I thought they were outstanding, Broadfoot and Findlay, one at the latter end of his career and one just starting out," he said. "It was good to see, a good combination.

"Kirk has been outstanding for me, a fixture in the team. He trains hard and his game has improved as he gets older.

"It wasn't our best performance today but, as usual, (it had) loads of character.

"The pitch was difficult to play on, there was a lot of passing mistakes in both teams which were not just down to the quality of the players.

"We didn't get into a rhythm, or create too much going forward and sometimes a little bit of quality can win the game and we got that from Jordan Jones' cross and Stuart Findlay's header."