PROUD Morton manager Jim Duffy paid tribute to his players’ efforts on three fronts this season as they reached the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup with a convincing 4-1 win at Annan Athletic.

As well as being their first appearance in the last eight since 1999, it is also the first season in which the Ton have made this stage in both major cup competitions in the same season since 1979-80.

And Duffy feels the fact his squad have managed to achieve that feat whilst also proving competitive in a strong Ladbrokes Championship is testament to their drive to do well for the club.

He told the Tele: “We’re delighted to be in the quarter-finals; it’s terrific for the club and terrific for the players to be at that stage of the tournament.

“I don’t look and see when the last time the club reached this stage, but if 1999 was the last time then it shows you how difficult it is. There have been a lot of good sides that haven’t achieved it.

“So for us to get to the quarter-finals of the League Cup and then the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup as well as competing in the league says a lot about the players.

“It says a lot about the attitude of the players and the desire of the players to do well.”

After a barren run in front of goal of late, Ton racked up a glut of chances against the Galabankies and hit four goals for the first time since thrashing Livingston at the beginning of September.

Duffy was pleased with the performance, in particular the sustained threat they posed to the opposition goal over the course of the 90 minutes.

He added: “I think we played well today and if you look at the game we created a number of chances and had two cleared off the line.”

“Tam [O’Ware] is adamant one was a good foot or two over the line, but, anyway, we didn’t get it and in a game you’ve won you’re not so aggrieved about it.

"Over the piece we played well, dominated the game and thoroughly deserved to win and I don’t think the scoreline flattered us. We dominated the first half, really dominated it, and created chance after chance and I’m thinking ‘we need another one, we need another one.’

“So to get one right before the half-time whistle was great, and, again, it was a great finish from Joe [McKee].

“Generally speaking, I thought we went about our jobs very well at a difficult venue against a side who can score goals and are always a threat, and we deserved our win.

“It was good to get four goals. We’ve been working hard and maybe not got the rewards, so it was pleasing to get a few goals.

“But not just goals, it was pleasing to get shots on target and create opportunities to score goals, because over the last couple of games, against Rangers and Hibs, we’ve not had too many.

"Today we had a few and managed to take four of them. We were a threat all the time, right through the game.

“We could still take a wee bit more care in and around the box but we had a lot of shots at goal and put in a lot of crosses, and that’s something we’ve not been doing on a regular basis. So I’m pleased we managed to do that today and to get four goals is always that wee bit special.”

Stefan McCluskey fired Ton to the victory with a hat-trick and the Ton boss hailed the frontman as an unsung hero.

He said: “I’m pleased for Stef. For any player to score a hat-trick is great, but to do it in the Scottish Cup is always that wee bit special. I’ve said it time and time again, he’s a player that sometimes people don’t appreciate, the amount the work he does for the team.

“He sacrifices his own game at times, but today coming on off the flank he got himself involved in the play. He scored three and got unlucky with another one which just went across the goal-line and did that without sacrificing the work ethic that he’s got.”