PARTICK Thistle will always be Chris Erskine’s club.

And that's the way it should be given what this player means to the supporters, despite being pushed out of Firhill this month.

The 31-year-old came off the bench at Tynecastle on Sunday to make his Livingston debut and it was strange to see him in different colours after all this time.

Three spells, promotions, many goals, a top half finish; this all made Erskine a Thistle legend but Gary Caldwell made it clear he didn’t fancy the Firhill stalwart and didn’t play this talented footballer despite the team being on an awful run at the bottom of the Championship.

And, so, a team fighting to be in the top six of Premiership took him instead, Football is strange.

Erskine admitted: “Of course it was a wrench to leave. Thistle is my club and it always will be my club. I was there for seven years on and off and it was difficult to leave.

"I had literally hundreds of messages from Thistle fans which was really nice It’s good to know you have made a difference and that you have been part of something that the fans were happy with.

“It will always be my club. I’m very proud of what I did and what we achieved at Partick Thistle.”

So, if Erskine isn’t good enough to play for a team fighting relegation into the third tier, why is he deemed worthy of a place in a Livingston side which could even be in and around the European places come May?

Erskine said: “I don’t know. You’d have to ask other people about that. But what I would say is I wouldn’t have left Partick Thistle if I didn’t have to. I would have happily stayed there for the rest of my career.

“But I would not have come to Livingston if I did not feel I was good enough to play again in the Premiership. If I had thought that I would have gone elsewhere. I’m confident in my own abilities that I can get into this team and play well.

“It’s nothing to do with how I was playing because the manager at the old club never played me! He only played me twice in 12 games which, to me, is not really a chance for anyone.

“But I’ve been training hard every day at Thistle and I’ve been training hard here to. I will be ready when the manager calls on me.”

Erskine’s first game ended in a 1-0 defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Cup buy he saw enough in that game, and in training, that he has joined a strong squad full of seriously good players

He said: “I’ve been made really welcome since I signed for Livingston last midweek. But it’s been good. I’ve enjoyed it. The good thing is it’s a fresh start at a new club. The place is well run and the boys are looked after well.

“Livingston have been doing really well and you can feel that the boys in the changing room are all together. The boys want to well in the league and that’s what’s been happening so far.

“After what happened at Thistle I knew I had to go. The chance to play in the Premiership was an option I could not turn down. Now I have to try and establish myself in the first team.

"It’s a fresh start. I don’t know if people know about me here or not but I want to get into the team.

“And the best way to do that is scoring goals. It may take a bit of patience because the boys have been doing so well but I’m confident that once I get in there I will stay there.”

Livingston have stumbled a little in recent times but Gary Holt knows what he’s doing and even in defeat on Sunday, the West Lothian men played well and should have scored.

Erskine said: “I think we can come again. The boys are all together and having each other’s back is a big thing in football. I think at the start of the season Livingston would have wanted to stay in the Premiership.

“At the halfway stage they are on the right track to do that. I think overall the club will be very very happy. But when you do so well in the first half of the season you want to do the same in the second half of the season. Everyone will be wanting to get back to winning ways."