Freddie Frans may have left Partick Thistle in the summer after two years at the club, but there will always be a piece of his heart that belongs to Firhill.

The big Belgian was a firm favourite with the Thistle fans during his stay in Scotland, making over 40 appearances and becoming something of a cult hero after scoring a wonder goal in a win at Ross County.

He is currently loving life back at his hometown club Lierse S.K. as they ride high in the Belgian First Division B, and is enjoying being close to his family again.

But with such an affinity for both Glasgow and Thistle, he is not ruling out the possibility that we may see him back in a red and yellow jersey again one day in the future.

“Why not?” Frans said. “It was a brilliant experience. 28 is not that old for a centre-back and my best years have still to come.

“I think I’m only getting better, especially not being hampered by injuries and I feel I still have a lot of years ahead.

“The first thing I look for is the Thistle live score and the Twitter feed, and I still keep in touch with a few of the players too.”

No longer being a Thistle player, Frans's ‘Jagszone’ account has become his link to the club, and he has now become one of their biggest supporters. He has been heartened by the recent upturn in results.

“I know a lot about the team, and I’ve seen a lot of games, and I could see that they were going to be fine,” he said.

“You see in the last few weeks that they’ve started to turn their performances into points, and I’m really happy for them.

“I saw them play Ross County and I saw them play Kilmarnock, and they are better than those teams.

“We started with a bad run last year and this season it was a little bit similar, but if you look at the table then it is very close and they just need to keep it up in the coming weeks and then anything is possible.

“When I compare them to the other teams I think they’ve got a big chance, and I believe they will make the top six this year.”

One regret that Frans has from his days at Thistle is that he was unable to show his best form in the latter part of his Firhill career, as a succession of hamstring injuries curtailed his appearances.

Those problems have now cleared, and he feels he is subsequently enjoying the best form of his life.

“It’s been brilliant,” he said. “I have the most minutes of any player except the goalkeeper, and I haven’t been hampered by any small injuries.

“When I look back at my career at Thistle I think the first season was brilliant, because I had practically no injuries apart from the very beginning because I didn’t have a pre-season.

“I then had a run of about 20 games and I think that was the best Freddie, and in the second season I started really well before I began picking up those hamstring injuries.

“It was a pity, but still, I have brilliant memories and I still had some really decent games with the team and some important wins.”

The pace of life has altered somewhat for Freddie and his wife Valerie since their move home, and he admits he sometimes pines after the city that he calls his second home.

“Life is a little bit quieter here,” he said. “Glasgow is one of the biggest cities in the UK, there’s always something to do and it’s a beautiful city with great people. But both places are good and when you are in one you miss the other.

“I still consider Glasgow my home from home. We made a lot of great friends there and lived there really happily.

”Who knows? Maybe we will again some day.”