ARDEER Thistle have been hit with a fine and a points deduction after fielding an ineligible player in a recent match.

The club announced today (Friday) that they have been deducted three points and fined Β£100 for playing the unnamed squad member.

A statement from the local side's committee said: "We were of the understanding the player in question was a free agent, as his previous club's manager told us, as well as the player not signing any forms for his previous club this season.

"We then discovered that a document with the player's name had been processed by his previous club, technically making him a signed player.

"We have been sanctioned because we went on good faith and never checked the SFA database and we accept this.

"We will not name the player (who is of no wrongdoing and only discovered this recently) or the other club, and we will not discuss this anymore as we will look at our options and decide how to proceed."

Thistle have made a promising start to the new season, taking victories in their last two games following an opening day defeat in theΒ West of Scotland Football League Second Division, including a dramatic late turnaround at home to Wishaw FC a fortnight ago to win 3-2, having been 2-1 down with just three minutes left on the clock.

The sanction means that the club will move down from sixth to 10th in the league table.

The statement added: "We have a massive game on Saturday in the Scottish Cup as we welcome Johnstone Burgh FC to Ardeer.

"When this club takes a knock, you, the fans, always pick us back up and we look forward to seeing everyone on Saturday to continue cheering on the team."

Kick off on Saturday (August 27) is at 2.30pm.