Partick Thistle old boy James Craigen: Relegation harsh on Jags

Craigen, who played for Thistle from 2012 to 2015, says Jags have suffered unfairly from the SPFL decision to cut short the season with the positions at the time of the shutdown counting as final placings.

He also feels for another of his old sides Falkirk, who were denied the chance to win League One, although that decision benefited Raith Rovers, yet another team Craigen used to play for, who were declared champions.

The 29-year-old Englishman said: “For Partick to be relegated by a point with a game in hand doesn’t seem really fair.

“I was delighted for Raith to go up, It’s a great club and I had a great year there.

“I feel for Falkirk as well, for Lee [Miller] and David [McCracken] who I played with, they were doing really well.

“They will be hoping for a 14-10-10-10 reconstruction, I think that would be the best outcome for everyone.

“It’s harsh relegating teams at this stage.”

The premature end to the season due to coronavirus was particularly frustrating for Craigen, who had joined Arbroath - managed by former Thistle boss Dick Campbell - on loan from English National League side Fylde during the January transfer window.

He said: “The manager who signed me at Fylde got sacked, I had played the majority of games up until then, I got on well with the new manager but wasn’t in the team, didn’t feel I was getting a fair crack of the whip and asked to get sent out on loan.

“Arbroath were doing really well and I’d worked under Dick before so it was a good chance to get playing with a side who were doing well.

“I was looking forward to the fixtures coming thick and fast so it was really disappointing that it was cut short.

“As a player you just want to know when you will get back playing and kicking a ball.”