Dundee United goalkeeper Rado Cierzniak has said thank you for his fond farewell after the 3-0 derby win over Dundee.
Cierzniak confirmed he has played his last game the Tangerines after they made it four wins out of five over their city rivals for the season.
Manager Jackie McNamara gave the home supporters the chance to show their appreciation by substituting Cierniak in the closing seconds and letting him be cheered off the field.
The Polish goalie, who will now look to continue his career elsewhere in the United Kingdom, said: “I am definitely leaving.
“It is a very emotional day for me.
“My plan was always to play three years for Dundee United then find another challenge.
“We will see now what happens.
“Hopefully, I can find another good club in the UK. That is my preference.
“I want to say thanks to the club and the fans. They always had my back and I want to thank them very much.”
Despite an often difficult season for United, he feels his soon-to-be-former club has a bright future.
“Yes, I feel very confident about that,” added Cierzniak.
“I would love to find a club with a dressing room like the one here.
“Nobody talks about the dressing room but it’s very magical.
“It’s like family.
“I hope I can feel that way about my next team.”
Victorious United boss McNamara wanted to sign off on a positive note and that was exactly what this result was, despite missing out on fourth spot to St Johnstone.
A double from Nadir Ciftci and a single from Blair Spittal did the trick, and McNamara said: “We wanted to finish on a high so that was important for everyone – the players and fans.
“It would have been a long summer if we hadn’t beaten them today so it was a good victory and I thought we deserved it.
“After the second goal you could see the shackles come off a bit.
“It’s not something we have had for a while where we have the cushion to allow us to settle down, play and enjoy the ball.
“So I’m delighted for everyone, especially the fans.”
Dundee manager Paul Hartley felt his team didn’t perform badly but bemoaned some of their defending.
He said: “It was a bit strange.
“I thought we actually played quite well.
“We were good in the first half in terms of possession and using the ball.
“But we have to defend better.
“The goals we lost were three mistakes.
“We gifted them the first one. The second one is a penalty and I didn’t really see it but Thomas Konrad thinks it was a soft penalty. But as a defender you can’t go to ground.
“The third one was just bad defending.
“So they took their chances and we didn’t.”