JAMES CRAIGEN has experienced the hidden side of football after his career suffered an early setback.

Now the Partick Thistle star is keen to make up for lost time as he bids to star for the Jags in the Irn-Bru First Division this season.

The striker has been given a two-year deal by boss Jackie McNamara and now he follows in Mark McGuigan's footsteps in making the jump from university football to life at Firhill.

After a decade at Preston, Craigen was told he was not being kept on at Deepdale and headed north of the border to forge a career away from the playing pitch.

His big break has arrived after signing on the dotted line with McNamara's side.

Now the former Edinburgh University striker is relishing the challenge as Thistle set their sights on promotion to the Scottish Premier League.

He said: "I started my career at Preston. I was there from the age of 18 but I never made a first-team appearance.

"After leaving Preston, I went to Uni and now I am on to Thistle. I can't wait to get started.

"Alan Irvine was the manager at Preston at the time but I couldn't break into the team, unfortunately.

"It was a blow to be released from the club but I had carried on with my education at the same time and had been doing my A-levels.

"I was keen to go down the education route and things have worked out for the best.

"I always had hopes of coming back into the game.

"I feel I have improved a lot since I started playing regularly for Edinburgh University.

"I have always dreamed of being a footballer so I am delighted that my chance to play professionally has finally come."

Craigen spurned the opportunity to join English side Tamworth before making the switch to Thistle and made his Firhill bow during the Jags' 2-0 ARR Craib Cup triumph against Celtic on Saturday.

The weekend fixtures against the Hoops and an Everton XI gave McNamara the chance to see his squad in action once more ahead of their Ramsdens Cup tie with Clyde on Saturday.

And the Jags boss must have liked what he saw yesterday when Thistle beat the English team 3-1 in the Craib Cup final.

Sean Welsh headed the home side in front inside two minutes.

Then Craigen was in the thick of the action when he won a penalty just after the break, and Welsh made nomistake from the spot. Stuart Bannigan added Thistle's third.

Now Craigen can hardly wait to swap the class rooms for the pitch on a regular basis when the competitive action gets under way.

He said: "I had a good three years at Edinburgh and played in their first team in the East of Scotland League. I have done three years study there and I am doing a degree in Sports Business Management.

"I can graduate now but I want to do my Masters so I am going to defer for a couple of years and see how my football goes.

"Marketing is interesting but not as good as playing. It will be a different challenge for me.

"I am used to playing in front of about 20 people for Edinburgh Uni, it will be a lot different at Firhill on a Saturday."