Kris Doolan tells of emotional final chat with dad as Partick Thistle boss insists he will be 'shining over' playoff

Kris Doolan the 15-year-old, his face like a battered Mitre peeling apart after being leathered, struggled to see the wisdom in his father’s words. Kris Doolan the 36-year-old made a career out of living by them and is on the verge of bossing a side delivering on them.

Ahead of the first of two play-off final clashes against Ross County that promise to put Partick Thistle fans through the wringer after five years out of the top flight. For the man in the dugout, though, these last three weeks border on inconceivable, losing his dad Lawrence, 71, on the eve of their quarter-final second leg.

Even as his health deteriorated, his desire to talk all things Thistle did not. Doolan said: “He’ll be really proud. I spoke to him after the Queen’s Park first leg, I went to see him and he was really poorly, he was close to passing away. The last thing he told us is he was proud of us, basically well done. He’d been watching the game on TV, he was trying to chat as best he could about football, how he was chuffed about Partick Thistle.

“He loved Thistle. My dad followed us for nearly 11 years to every game, my wife, my kids, we’ve been all over the country, we’ve been at all the grounds. He wanted us to do well as much as I do, we’re both fans of the club, so I guarantee he’ll be watching.

"He’ll be shining over us. Yes, there have been sad times and there have been horrible times but ultimately now I can think he’s proud of what we’re achieving, he’ll be happy with what we’re achieving and what we’re about to achieve, hopefully.

“And he’ll be supporting us as much as me. As much as we love, I love, watching us score goals, he loved it because he watched me do it as well.

“But I know even when he was seriously ill, the one thing