Ex Dumbarton player Stuart Findlay says that he owes the Sons a lot for helping him earn his move to Newcastle United.

The 20-year-old defender was on loan from Celtic during the second half of the 2014-15 season, appearing when the Sons finished seventh in the league.

The Scotland u21 international spent last season on loan at Kilmarnock, and has now signed a professional contract with the Magpies after his contract was up with the Hoops.

The centre-half said: “I enjoyed my time at Dumbarton, I owe them a lot for what’s happened because I feel they really helped me push my career forward the way it has, so I feel I owe them a lot for the time I had there.

“Dumbarton will always be a special team to me after the way everybody treated me. They treated me well there, they took me in and made me feel a part of it I really loved every minute of my time there at Dumbarton.”

The ex Celtic man impressed during his time at the Rock, making 15 appearances for the Sons under then manager Ian Murray.

He picked up two player of the month awards while with Dumbarton, and his impressive form was noticed by Scotland u21 manager Ricky Sbragia, earning him a call-up against Hungary u21s.

Findlay said he had many amazing memories from his spell down at The Rock, and picked out one game as his favourite – their win away to Livingston as they all but sealed their survival in the Championship.

He added: “I’d say the match against Livingston, where we played at Almondvale.

"We were one down going into the last 10 minutes and we scored two, and to see the to see the Dumbarton fans celebrate, that and the result kept us up that season – that was a special moment.”