Partick Thistle’s latest recruit Mustapha Dumbuya has had a tumultuous path to the highest level of the Scottish game.

The full-back hails from Sierra Leone, fleeing with his mother and brother at the age of 5 with the country in the midst of a deadly civil war.

He has subsequently spent most of his life in the UK, but even then, his path to full-time professional football wasn’t a smooth one.

The 28-year-old has fought tooth and nail through the English non-leagues to reach this point, and he is determined now to show the Thistle support what he can do.

“Obviously I left when I was young, so there’s not much I can remember of the civil war,” he said.

“It’s been pretty well-documented though what went on, everybody knows about what went on in Sierra Leone with the diamonds and stuff, but the country’s on the up.

“I was in non-league for a while and then I fought my way into the league.

“I really want to go for my dreams, it’s been a real journey for me.

“I was playing in front of 100 people sometimes or maybe even less. I’ve come from pretty much nothing to making some sort of name for myself.

“That makes me appreciate it more. When I was in non-league I was working in Tesco, I was a trolley boy!

“I’ve done the working and playing football thing at the same time for around a year, so I do appreciate where I am right now.

“I was always determined to play football, it was just a matter of time.”

The versatile defender has had spells at Doncaster Rovers and Portsmouth, and was most recently at Notts County.

He is looking now to cement his place in the Thistle side once he is fully up to speed.

“I didn’t really have a pre-season so I’m a little bit behind, but in a sense I’m naturally fit so it won’t take me long, maybe a couple of weeks,” he said.

“Left-back or right-back are my preferred positions, but I’m quite versatile and can play wing-back as well.

“My bread and butter is getting up and down the pitch.

“You can expect to see a lot of energy, a lot of enthusiasm and a lot of positivity.

“I don’t really know that much about the Scottish Premiership, but it’s an exciting league that I’m going to relish playing in.”