Archibald so pleased to see Bannigan back playing

LIVINGSTON

Jacobs 46

PARTICKTHISTLE

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Erskine 14 (Livingston won 3-1 on pens) Partick Thistle boss Alan Archibald hailed Stuart Bannigan after the midfielder finally emerged from his 15-month injury nightmare.

The former Scotland Under-21 cap suffered a serious knee injury back in March 2015.

But he made an impressivereturntoactionagainst Livingston on Saturday as the Jags opened their Betfred Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw against the Ladbrokes League One Champions.

Archibald was disappointed to see his team miss out on a bonus point at the Tony Macaroni Arena, with Bannigan the only Thistle player out of four to find the net during the penalty shoot-out.

But he was delighted to see the 24-year-old make his comeback.

He said: “Stuart Bannigan was fantastic in his first game for 15 months. It was a great test for him and Championship teams don’t mess about.”

But Archibald admits the rest of his team need to step up their performances after allowing Livi hit back with a Keaghan Jacobs equaliser early in the second half after Chris Erskine had put the Premiership men ahead a quarter of an hour in.

“It was about fitness for Stuart but for the rest it’s about winning games,” said the Firhill boss.

“You have to win the games as it’s so tight.”