Partick Thistle's Ben Stanway made a triumphant return to Firhill Road on Friday night, coming off the bench to help the Jags defeat Livingston 2-0. The midfielder, who had been linked with a move away from the club over the summer, revealed that his love for the Thistle meant he was always going to return. 'I have so much love for the club that I was never shying away from re-signing because it's a club that means so much to me,' Stanway explained. 'I knew with the kind of season I had that there would be a wee bit of chat about it, but I didn't want to distract myself. I had to make the best decision for myself, where I'm going to get the best out of myself.' Stanway's return was met with delight from the Partick Thistle faithful, who had been resigned to losing their star player over the summer. The midfielder's long summer, the uncertainty over his future and his happy homecoming were clearly going to dominate the conversation. But it is a telling sign of the 21-year-old's character that before getting into all that, he wanted to take the opportunity to wax lyrical about the Jags' performance. As always, with Stanway, the team comes first. 'It was brilliant to be back - although I never left! Watching the game from the start tonight, I thought we were different class,' he replied when asked about his return. 'I thought we were outstanding to a man and it was brilliant to watch. Obviously if you're not playing, you want to see a decent game and I thought we were brilliant. It's a good marker for the standards that we set ourselves throughout the season.' Stanway's return to Partick Thistle comes as the club looks to build on their strong finish to last season. League standing (final 2025 table -- new season not yet under way): 2nd in Scottish Championship, 66 pts, 17W-15D-4L from 36 games, recent form DDDWD. Goals this season: 53 scored, 36 conceded (+17 goal difference). Title race: 11 points behind leaders ST Johnstone. Next fixture: vs Arbroath (away, 2026-12-12) (3rd in the table).