THE life of a professional footballer isn’t always sweetness and light, and if anyone can testify to that, then surely it is Gary Fraser.

The Partick Thistle midfielder has a had a torrid time of it over the last two years, coping with the death of his mentor, grandad John, serious injury that kept him sidelined for most of that period, and intense scrutiny after carelessly smashing the ball into the Celtic crowd just weeks after his comeback, making contact with the face of an unfortunate spectator.

Finally though, there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel for the 23-year-old. He is loving the first weeks of a loan spell at Morton, and is looking to recapture his form, having never lost his love of the game.

“It’s been a hell of a time for me, but I’ve come through it all bigger and stronger,” said Fraser. “I feel like I could take anything.

“I just think ‘bring it on’, because nothing else now could compare to what I’ve been through.

“I think I’ve grown up. I’m more mature and I see football in a different way. I’m so lucky to be in the game after my injuries and some moments of daftness.

“There was some real stupidity from me when I was younger. We’re all young boys and we all do daft things, but that’s all behind me now.

“It has been a tough time, but I always just thought back to the good old days to keep me going, with the work that my mum and my gran and my grandad put in with me.

“My grandad used to take me down Glasgow Green night after night to practice and do some running. I thought to myself, am I going to let a wee injury – even though I was out for about two years - ruin all that hard work?

“I’ll just add that two years on at the end of my career, and then it won’t have been missed.

“I just try to stay as positive as I can, and thankfully, I have come through it now.”

Fraser admits that he still beats himself up over the crazy moment that he lashed a ball into the Celtic Park stand, hitting a female supporter on the face just as he was making his first steps back into first-team action.

He was grateful to the fan for accepting his apology, and he has been trying to make amends with every other Celtic fan he meets since.

“I took a bad touch and I’ve hit the ball without thinking,” he said.

“I immediately thought; ‘what have I just done?’ There was no intention to hit anyone, honest to god, and I’ll take this chance to apologise again to all the Celtic fans and everyone involved at the club.

“It was totally unprofessional, and I didn’t mean it, it was a mistake. I tried to hit it off the wee wall and didn’t take into account that the pitch was raised. I couldn’t believe what I had done.

“I still beat myself up about it, and wonder what I was doing. But it wasn’t intentional at the time. I wasn’t thinking ‘oh I’m going to hit the ball into the fans.’ I’d need to be not right to do that.

“The girl the ball hit was brilliant, fantastic. I apologised to her and she completely understood. She went up to Firhill and got hospitality tickets for the next Celtic match.

“That was really nice of her. Some people would have played it up and liked the attention, but she was brilliant, and I thank her for that.

“Everywhere I was going, people were saying stuff to me about it, and I was apologising to Celtic fans I’d meet.

“I was wondering how I get myself in these situations, but it’s in the past, and it’s time to just forget about it and move on.”

The move to Cappielow is a step in the right direction to doing just that, after ending up helping out with odd jobs around Firhill at times just to make himself useful.

His contract at Thistle is up in the summer, and while he is happy to place on record his appreciation for what his parent club have done for him, he isn’t ready to give up on his career with the Jags just yet.

“At Firhill, I was injured that long I ended up a handyman, a chef, and a cleaner sometimes on matchdays,” he said. “I was just trying to earn my money’s worth.

“I’ve loved it at Thistle, I really have loved my time there, and you never know what can happen at the end of the season.

“I understood Thistle’s situation and Archie was brilliant with me, he was different class.

“It was a difficult situation. I had been out for two years really, and it’s been stop-start, stop-start. Now, I’ve finally got that relief of seeing the light now.

“I’m back involved and playing on Saturdays, waking up on a Saturday morning with that feeling in your belly. You can’t beat it. It’s been different class at Morton so far.

“It kind of feels as if I’m starting out on my career all over again, but I just want to get back to the same player I was before. And I feel as if I am.”