Gretna chief executive Graeme Muir insists he bears no animosity to St Mirren and Dunfermline after they raised objections over the Borderers' application to join the Scottish Premier League.

The SPL backed their decision to allow Gretna to groundshare with Motherwell next season on Thursday.

Saints chairman Stewart Gilmour had initially expressed concern the First Division champions had not given assurances over their plans to develop their own ground.

But Muir insisted his club had submitted a full construction timetable for a stadium with at least 6,000 seats at their Raydale Park ground.

However, Muir was unfazed by the complaints from relegated Dunfermline and Saints - who had to shell out £200,000 to upgrade Love Street last summer.

Muir said: "It's no surprise, in a sense I have a bit of sympathy with Dunfermline and St Mirren.

"When you see the difference between the First Division and the SPL, it's a massive change financially. We are just beginning to realise how big it is.

"You saw last year when Livingston went down how keen Pearse Flynn was on SPL2, it was maybe just the way he went about things wasn't the best."

SPL secretary Iain Blair said Gretna's SPL status had never been in doubt.

The issues raised after Dunfermline were relegated on Saturday sparked fears that the SPL would be subject to another summer of controversy over the promotion issue.

Falkirk were denied entry to the SPL in 2003 when they failed to convince the SPL they had primacy of tenure at Airdrie's New Broomfield ground.

Inverness secured a groundshare with Aberdeen the following year while planning improvements on their stadium, which saw Partick Thistle threaten legal action.

And St Mirren were denied permission to forego improvements on Love Street such as undersoil heating as they awaited confirmation of plans for a new stadium, which they will move to next year.

"I think people are getting confused in terms of the various applications over the years," Blair said.

"In terms of St Mirren, we asked them to put undersoil heating in. They initially sought permission to play at a non-compliant stadium.

"Gretna's position is very, very similar to Inverness. If you're looking for a precursor, that's the precursor.

"We have had comprehensive documentation from Gretna, similar to Inverness two years ago."

St Mirren will now drop their objections while Dunfermline chairman John Yorkston will wait until the SPL write to him clarifying the situation before making any decision.