Cove Rangers boss Paul Hartley has praised outgoing left-back Harry Milne as the club look to give him a winning send-off.
Milne will join Partick Thistle in the summer after signing a pre-contract with the Firhill side, bringing an end to seven years at Cove.
A superb season for the 25-year-old has seen him named in the League One team of the year and nominated for the PFA Scotland player of the year award, alongside current team-mates Rory McAllister and Mitch Megginson.
It was little surprise Milne’s performances attracted outside interest and ultimately the guarantee of full-time football has proved persuasive in getting him to make his next move.
Cove finish their season at already-relegated East Fife today, having been crowned champions a week ago. Going out a league-winner was the perfect end to the season for Milne.
“It’s part and parcel of the game. We didn’t want to lose him, but he had an opportunity to go full-time and we wish him all the best,” said Hartley.
“He’s been terrific for me for three years and he’s been a great servant. It’s a fresh challenge for him and sometimes you need that as a player.
“We might not be up against him, because they (Thistle) could get to the Premiership, but my job now is to find a suitable replacement for Harry.
“It’s always harder to find left-sided players, but my job is to see what we can bring in to the club. I think the advantage we may have now is we’re a Championship club.
“Even if it’s a loan spell for somebody, we feel we’ll now get better loan players because of where we’re at now. You tend to find the Premiership clubs will give you better players the higher up you are.”
East Fife will be playing League Two football next season, but New Bayview is the scene of Cove’s last league defeat.
That stretches back to October, with Cove putting together a remarkable 25-game unbeaten run since then to take the title.
“We’re on a remarkable run. Twenty-five games, no matter what level you’re at, is brilliant,” said Hartley.
“It’s not going down with the party hats on. It’s going down there to do a job again – the players know we can’t drop the standards.
“We might have a couple missing through injury, but the team we send there will be good enough to get a result.
“They haven’t got a lot to play for apart from pride. I know Stevie Crawford really well and he’ll want to see who he wants to keep or players who want to impress.
“We won’t let up. There’s no way I’ll let the players let up. They’ll be told straight away they’re not there to mess about.”
Cove will be without Ryan Strachan (Achilles) and Rory McAllister (calf) for the game.
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