LUCA Colville has praised the impact of David Hopkin’s ‘old-school’ mentality on the squad ahead of Saturday’s crunch match against Partick Thistle.

The 20-year-old believes that the coaching delivered by the Ton chief will help him kick on as a player.

Although it has taken him a few weeks to get up to speed, he believes that he can get fitter and stronger as the season goes on.

He told the Tele: “He’s an old-school gaffer but that’s just his method and the way he works and you can’t blame him with the success that he’s had before, because it clearly works and it will continue to do so.

“We are a fit team, which is what the gaffer is into.

“You can see when we play that we are incredibly fit and that we don’t stop running and that we always fight right until the end.

“That brings in the mental side of things. He really likes to make sure that we’re mentally strong as well so that we always keep going right until the end.

“It took me a few games to get up to speed with it all, but I’d like to think I’ve got myself to a decent level of fitness now and under the gaffer that’s only going to improve.”