Dumbarton manager Stevie Aitken praised debutant Lewis Vaughan after the Sons were narrowly beaten by top-of-the-table Hibs on Saturday.

A solitary goal from on-loan Celtic man Kris Commons was enough to settle the match in the Hibees’ favour, but it was the performance of his own loan signing from Raith Rovers that caught Aitken’s eye.

The Sons boss was delighted with his team overall in a game where he felt they deserved at least a point, but he feels he has unearthed a real diamond for the club with the arrival of Vaughan in particular.

“I thought he was outstanding,” Aitken told Sons TV. “When he became available we didn’t think twice about bringing him in. I’m delighted we’ve got him and he was a real threat.

“We knew he was available two weeks before, so as soon as we’d freed up the wages we wanted to do business.

“You can see what he brings to the club and certainly if he keeps going like that then we’ve been lucky to get him.

“Tom Lang and Calum Gallacher have also come in, and I thought Stuart Carswell was outstanding as well.

“Everyone to a man gave it everything they’ve got, and we came up against a resolute defence and just couldn’t find that goal.

“We’ve lost the game and we’re disappointed, but in terms of performance I thought my team were outstanding.

“I thought every one of them worked their socks off for the club, for myself and for their teammates.”

Vaughan himself was just pleased to get 90 minutes of football under his belt after a frustrating spell at his parent club since returning from a serious long-term injury.

“I was delighted to play and make my debut,” Vaughan said. “It was a very tough game against a team like Hibs who are really a Premiership side and top of the league.

“I thought the lads were very unlucky not to get something from the game. I thought we more than deserved at least a point from it, but as the gaffer said afterwards, there’s a way to get beaten and the lads were different class today.

“I’m just happy to play football and get as much time out on the pitch as I can. I was out with a cruciate injury last year and I missed a lot of games, so I’m looking forward to just getting my fitness back and my confidence back.

“We need to be picking points up against the likes of Queen of the South next week, anything against the bigger clubs is a bonus.”