Saturday 16 January 2016 20:11, UK
Dundee boss Paul Hartley has revealed injury-plagued Kevin Thomson asked to leave the club because he could not cope with Premiership football.
The former Rangers midfielder's career has been blighted by spells on the sidelines, suffering two cruciate ligament injuries and four leg breaks.
He signed for Dundee in May 2014 and made 11 starts this season, but, speaking after his side's 4-2 win over Partick Thistle, boss Hartley said it was the former club captain's decision to leave Dens Park.
"It was Kevin's decision, he came to us at the start of the week and asked if he could leave," he said. "He just felt, with the injuries that he did have, that he couldn't handle the top-flight football.
"We respected his decision, he's not played a lot of games, he's not trained a lot. I think it was just frustration with him, nothing else.
"We didn't want him to go. It was a total shock when he came in to see me on Tuesday. We tried to tell him to sleep on it for a night, but he had made his decision and we did respect that decision."
Hartley paid tribute to Gary Harkins who captained the side at Firhill and was inspirational in the win.
He said: "It was a real captain's performance, I thought he was outstanding. His ability has never been in doubt; it's just been the other side that people have questioned.
"But you saw that he worked hard for the team and he took on the responsibility well. He's had the armband throughout the season at times, but he's at that age now where he has to take responsibility. If he keeps playing like that, he's a joy to watch at times."
Thistle boss Alan Archibald said: "We had a poor, poor start and we just didn't recover from it. Credit to Dundee, I thought they were good, but we made them look even better and we got punished for our mistakes."
