In-demand goalkeeper Jamie Sneddon says that he was sold on a move to Partick Thistle by the Firhill club’s willingness to give young players a chance.

The up-and-coming keeper trained with the likes of Hibs and Blackburn Rovers as he mulled over his future after running down his contract at Cowdenbeath.

But the welcome that the 19-year-old got while on a similar training stint with the Jags swayed him towards joining the Maryhill outfit, and his mind was made up when he looked at the young players who have been blooded by Thistle in recent times.

He is desperate now to work as hard as he can to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Liam Lindsay and earn a place in Alan Archibald’s starting eleven.

“It’s definitely a key factor in joining a club that they give youth a chance,” Sneddon said. “You’ve got to look at how many young players they do play, because you obviously want to be given a chance at some point.

“It’s good that Thistle aren’t scared to do that, and hopefully I’ll be one of the players to make that breakthrough soon.

“My contract was up in January, so I went on trial at Hibs, but I was also in at Thistle as well for a week doing a bit of training.

“I really enjoyed it and it made me really want to come here. As soon as I was involved with the guys here I knew it’s where I wanted to be, so as soon as I heard they were interested in bringing me in then I was sold on coming.

“My mind was pretty much made up. There was interest here and there, but nothing concrete, so I was hoping that Thistle would be in touch with Cowdenbeath, and thankfully that happened.

“The manager and Kenny Arthur were brilliant with me when I was in for that week, and obviously I have seen throughout the season that they are a club on the up. They are a top six club in the Premiership, so it’s great to be here.

“I was also in at Blackburn for a week, and it was a brilliant experience for me down there.

“I trained with all the different levels from the first-team to the 18s, so that was great. Obviously that’s the sort of place you want to progress to, but first and foremost you have to get into that first-team where you are now, and that’s my main aim.

“I want to push myself on and see how close I can get to that first-team.”

There are of course some considerable obstacles to first-team football for Sneddon in place at Thistle, with regular number one Tomas Cerny and the returning Ryan Scully also vying for the gloves.

And the former Hearts youngster is looking forward to learning from his more experienced colleagues.

"There’s obviously a couple of first-team keepers here just now, so I’m looking to get in with them and obviously see where I am in comparison," he said.

“Tomas Cerny is someone I really admire. He’s been at that level for a long time and he was probably one of Thistle’s best players last season, so I’ll be taking a few tips off of him and looking to learn from him for sure.

“I want to just get settled in, and get back into full-time training. I’ll obviously need to get a lot fitter, so I want to get my head down, train really hard and improve as much as I can, and we’ll see where that takes me.”