Alan Archibald has urged his Partick Thistle players to make the most of their opportunity to avoid automatic relegation when they face Dundee on Saturday.

Defeat to Motherwell on Tuesday evening means Thistle are all but certain to be in the bottom two and are just two points ahead of bottom side Ross County.

Archibald warned that anything but complete focus could allow County to leapfrog them into the play-off place and send the Firhill side to the Championship.

"It's in our hands for the play-off spot," he said. "We know that, we have got to recover and make sure we are ready to go.

"We have got to go and get three points."

A goal from Ryan Bowman ensured a win for the Steelmen at Firhill but Archibald wasn't too critical of his players, though he was frustrated a lack of cutting edge cost his side again.

"The performance was what we asked for in terms of the first half and the way we started the game, we created a couple of good opportunities, but you have got to take them when you are on top," he said.

"Motherwell came out better in the second half. I thought we rode that storm but we lose a goal from a set play.

"It probably sums our season up, we don't take our chances and we don't defend our box well enough."

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson is looking ahead to the Scottish Cup final against Celtic and had a scare when key defender Cedric Kipre went down injured. He revealed the extent of the injury and other worries with the Hampden showpiece match less than a fortnight away.

"Cedric has dislocated his thumb," he said. "We've got a few injuries so it's something we have to look at and see what we do for Saturday.

"Richard Tait was sick all last night, Liam Grimshaw's knee swelled up from Saturday. We don't have to take risks at this moment."