Dundee captain’s decision to leave was ‘total shock’ to Hartley

Dundee boss Paul Hartley has revealed that it was club captain Kevin Thomson’s decision to quit Dens Park.

Speaking after the 4-2 win against Partick Thistle, Hartley said that it came as a “total shock” when the former Hibs and Rangers midfielder came to him and asked to leave.

He said: “It was Kevin’s decision, he came to us at the start of the week and asked if he could leave.

“He just felt, with the injuries that he did have, that he couldn’t handle the top-flight football.

“We respected his decision, he’s not played a lot of games, he’s not trained a lot.

“I think it was just frustration with him, nothing else.

“We didn’t want him to go. It was a total shock when he came in to see me on Tuesday.

“We tried to tell him to sleep on it for a night, but he had made his decision and we did respect that decision.”