Partick Thistle legend in talks to extend East Kilbride stay as he balances fire fighting job with football

East Kilbride boss Kevin Rutkiewicz has revealed he is hopeful a deal can be struck to keep Chris Erskine at K-Park next season.

The former Partick Thistle and Dundee United midfielder hadn’t played for the club since Christmas as he pursued a future career in the fire service.

But the 35-year-old has now completed his training ahead of starting the new job next month and that allowed him to feature in Kilby’s 1-0 defeat to Lowland League champions Bonnyrigg Rose on Saturday.

Erskine came off the bench in the second half and Rutkiewicz says the experienced star intends to balance work life with prolonging his playing days next season.

Now, all parties need to sit down and sort out the details to make that happen.

In an exclusive interview with the News last month, Erskine – who will be inducted into the Partick Thistle hall of fame tonight – revealed how he was hopeful of finding a solution after missing the game during his time out.

And Rutkiewicz said: “Chris has been in his [fire service] training for the past wee while and I know he has said publicly he would like to come back next season.

“We thought the offer of him coming in and getting a flavour of us, and us getting a flavour for him, would be good.

“He’s gone 14 weeks without kicking a ball so we won’t get a true reflection of what he is all about in a couple of games, but we’ll always look at a player of Chris’s quality and hopefully we can offer him a platform.

“He’s in a position now where he is finding out his rota and people are sympathetic to his desire to keep playing football.

“I don’t think that means if we sign him and all is well, he would be available for all 34 league games.

“But that’s a thing Bill Orr [the assistant manager], Chris and I need to