NEW Partick Thistle signing Darian MacKinnon admits it was difficult to leave Hamilton after seven-and-a-half years at the Lanarkshire club but insists that he is determined to help improve the Jags' fortunes after a tough first half of the 2019/20 season.
The combative midfielder made over 250 appearances for Accies before being dropped earlier this campaign and MacKinnon jumped at the chance to sign for the Jags when presented with the opportunity.
And while the 34-year-old would have preferred to see out his career at Hamilton, MacKinnon says that the opportunity to play regular football again was too good to turn down.
"It was tough for me during the last few months at Hamilton," he said. "I didn’t really get a sniff, never mind a start, so it’s probably the best situation for everyone involved.
"I had a few things on the go but I had a funny feeling that Thistle were going to come in for me. I’ve nearly came here a few times in the past and it just felt right.
"I started every game then we played Motherwell and Jamie Hamilton got sent off after 10 minutes, and I never played again. I don’t know the ins and outs of it but it can’t be because of that game, we were down to 10 men so I don’t think you can’t judge anybody on that.
"I wake up and enjoy coming to training now. You wake up in the morning and you’re looking forward to it. I still enjoyed it at Hamilton but it’s difficult on a Saturday when your pals are getting ready for the game and you’re going ‘right, where am I going today to go and watch the team’. It’s hard. The only thing that kept me going was coaching the 16s. I love doing that and that got me through the dark times."
Thistle currently sit ninth in the Championship standings but league duty will take a back seat this weekend, as the fourth round of the Scottish Cup takes centre stage.
A midfield battle with Celtic captain Scott Brown beckons and MacKinnon is relishing the opportunity - and accepted that he and the champions' talisman have a similar style of play.
"In my younger days when I got about the pitch more, definitely," he said. "I wouldn’t mind having his bank balance right enough!
"He’s a top player, to do it at that level for so long and to keep coming back after being written off, you just have to respect that.
"I think he’s further back the park and I’m further back but we’ll probably meet somewhere in the middle if I’m selected!
"Games like this get the juices flowing. It’s brilliant going out and competing. There’s nothing better than training all week then going out and playing on a Saturday."
Thistle return to league action next weekend with an away fixture against Arbroath. And while MacKinnon admitted that he is surprised by the Jags' current position, he isn't giving up hope of reaching the promotion play-offs.
"You look at the squad and you wonder why we are down there," MacKinnon added. "There are good players here. I’ve played against most of them and I know of others so you wonder why we’re down there.
"You’d hope [we can reach the play-offs] but you don’t want to look too far ahead. We’re down there for a reason, we haven’t been winning enough games.
"We need to try and win as many games as possible, get ourselves away from the bottom and whatever happens further up the table will happen."
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