Spartans midfielder James Craigen thrilled to finally be a part of the Ainslie Park furniture

James Craigen is thrilled he made the move to Spartans. Picture: Mark Brown.

The 32-year-old Englishman was plying his trade with rivals Edinburgh City in League One last season before making the decision to drop down to Scottish football's fourth tier with Dougie Samuel's newly-promoted outfit.

And the Ainslie Park men are riding the crest of a wave having picked up 17 points from their opening ten matches and are sitting in third, just two points adrift of leaders Peterhead.

Victory at Clyde this afternoon could even see Spartans hit the summit should results elsewhere fall in their favour, but midfielder Craigen is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

"We've started well but you know that can change within a couple of weeks so we're not resting on our laurels," Craigen told the Evening News. "We're going to keep working hard. We need to make sure we cement our place in League Two before we start looking at anything else.

"If we're still kicking about near the top at the end of January then you can maybe reassess the goals then. I've been around the leagues far too long to know how quickly things can take a turn for the worse.

"You have to play these teams four times so we might not be the underdogs in some of the games, the opposition are going to know what our strengths are so we're going to have to try and combat that. I think a few teams will be surprised at our start but we're playing some good football. We've got a young, hungry side with a couple of experienced heads dotted in there."

And on that decision to swap black and white for red and white, the former Partick Thistle and Dunfermline player added: "It's been a great decision so I have no regrets. I really enjoyed my time at Edinburgh City working with Alan Maybury and Mark Kerr (former management team) who I have the utmost respect for. I know I've dropped down a league but I feel really settled and it's a club that has been close to my heart for a number of years. It's a cracking set up at Ainslie Park.

"I've known Sammy (Dougie Samuel) for a number of years so I knew the club was in a stable position but one with ambition as well. They're a club who are used to winning so it was nice going into that environment and I'm loving it so far."