LISTENING to Kilmarnock winger Kallum Higginbotham after his new club’s pulsating draw with old club Partick Thistle, it was hard to tell what disappointed him most – failing to claim all three points against the 10-man side, or the chorus of boos which rained down upon him from the home stands as he left the field of play.

In the end, he shouldn’t be too downhearted about either.

The point was probably the most that Kilmarnock deserved from a match in which they were completely dominated for the first 35 minutes by a profligate Thistle side, and the hostile atmosphere at the end of the 90 minutes speaks volumes for the problems he posed his former side in the game, claiming two assists as Gary Locke’s men twice fought back to claim a point.

It probably didn’t curry favour with the locals either when he planted an elbow into the side of Gary Miller’s head, then repeated the trick on Liam Lindsay, to find his way into the book in the opening 10 minutes, but it was never likely to be a quiet return for the spiky winger.

“You’re always going to get booed when you come back to your old club, but it’s not something that I wanted," Higginbotham said. “I’ve got great memories of this club and I’ve never had a bad word to say about the club.

“It’s just a shame that the fans turn on you, but that’s part and parcel of football, and I’m big enough and strong enough for it not to bother me.

"That’s just the nature of the game. Things weren’t going their way and they’ve had a man sent off so they were showing their anger. But they pay their money and that’s their choice, I’m just disappointed it turned on a sour note.

“Hopefully next time I play here they’ll applaud me again, but if not, I’ll just take the boos on the chin. I’m happy with the assists, but I’m a bit disappointed we didn’t get the three points.”

Early in the game it looked as though anyone of a Killie persuasion would just have been happy to get out of Maryhill with their pride intact.

When Kris Doolan took advantage of a defensive mix-up to net the first of his two after just 9 minutes it was completely in keeping with the the run of play.

Kilmarnock barely crossed the half-way line for the first half hour or so, but the fact that they weren’t punished further by the home side seemed to encourage Locke's charges as the game approached half-time.

Enter Higginbotham, whose quick free-kick on half-way caught the Thistle defence napping on 38 minutes, and sent Rory McKenzie clean-through on Tomas Cerny.

He kept his cool to curl home and, to the incredulity of the home support, drew the visitors level.

The match swung in favour of the Ayrshire side on 65 minutes when young Liam Lindsay, so impressive at the heart of the Thistle defence, had a moment to forget.

He hesitated in possession allowing Mark O’Hara to rob him and run through on goal, but Lindsay stretched out a hand in desperation and grabbed the shirt of the marauding midfielder and a red card duly followed.

Remarkably though, Doolan then hit his second of the game with 12 minutes remaining to move Thistle ahead, albeit from a position that looked at least a yard offside.

But after a sensational comeback against Celtic in midweek, for the second time in the game Killie hauled themselves off the canvas as substitute Kris Boyd nodded his first goal of his third spell at the club with five minutes remaining to secure a point.

Partick defender Frederic Frans, who has had his own red-card woes this season already, had a consoling word for his young central-defensive partner, Lindsay.

“It’s hard for Liam but he played a brilliant game before the red card," Frans said. "I can’t blame the boy. He had to make the foul or it would have been one-on-one.

“I think he’ll come back better for it – he has to take the positives because he was outstanding. We are a really good squad so we’ll help to pick him up.

“It happened to me in the first game of the season and it’s hard when you get sent off. Mine was harsh but you still feel terrible in the dressing room.”