Partick Thistle star Kris Doolan is delighted that the club have managed to secure the signing of defender Niall Keown, with the striker believing the transfer could be key to repeating their feat of reaching the top six.

With fellow central defender Liam Lindsay signing for Barnsley and Keown initially returning to parent club Reading after his loan spell at Firhill last season, the Thistle backline was looking a little threadbare.

But Doolan says that the news of Keown’s arrival on a two-year deal has given everyone at the club a massive boost as they set out to repeat their feat of a top-half finish in the coming campaign.

“It is an unbelievable bit of business from the club,” Doolan said.

“Niall was such an important player for us in the second half of last season, and was a major part of the great run we went on to finish in the top six.

“After losing Liam, it would have been a huge blow to go into the season without either of them, so to get Niall back when we were probably hunting around for someone to replace him is massive.

“We know the quality that he has, he already knows the players and is familiar with how we like to play, so it’s a great signing.

“The manager and the staff behind the scenes deserve enormous credit for making this happen, and it’s a sign again of our progress as a club.

“The standard of the league is improving all the time, so it’s important that we keep progressing too, and a signing like this proves that we are on the right road. And on a permanent deal too.

“He’s a cracking player and a lovely guy, so I’m delighted that he will be joining us again.”

Doolan’s main concern may be with putting the ball in the net at the opposite end of the pitch to Keown, but he believes that having a strong defence takes the pressure off him and his fellow strikers.

“The way we play as a team means that we defend from the front and attack from the back,” Doolan said.

“But as a striker who has the main responsibility for getting goals, it’s nice to know that you have a solid defence behind you and you probably won’t have to score two or three times a game just to get a result.

“I can’t overstate just how good it is to have Niall back, the whole team will benefit from his presence.”

On a personal level, Doolan says that surpassing the milestone of 100 goals for the club last season hasn’t dampened his enthusiasm for finding the net in the new campaign.

The forward has hit double figures in each of the last seven seasons, and he is aiming to achieve that feat again as a bare minimum.

“I always set that out as a target ahead of the new season, and so far, I have managed to get there,” he said.

“It was an amazing feeling to hit the 100 goals for Thistle, but that doesn’t mean that I’ll down tools now, I still have lots to achieve at the club and targets in mind.

“Ok, the 200 goals may be a fair bit off just yet, but I still have that desire to score as many as I can every time I take to the field and we’ll see where that approach takes me.

“I’ve been here a long time now, but my enthusiasm has never gone away. I just love scoring goals for this football club.”