MORTON received an injury boost as Peter MacDonald returned to action in Morton Under-20s 3-3 draw against Stranraer at Lennoxtown.

Veteran hitman MacDonald was deemed fit enough for a place on the bench at Parkhead on Sunday after a five-month lay-off.

The 35-year-old and defender Luca Gasparotto got 60 minutes under their belts in the Under-20s clash on Tuesday night.

Ton’s goals were scored by Jon Scullion, Jai Quitongo and Ruaridh Langan, while goalkeeper Jamie McGowan saved a second-half penalty.

Swansea loan striker Alex Samuel is also edging close to a return and Duffy confirmed the 20-year-old’s knee injury has improved and expects him back in Scotland today.

He said: “I spoke to Alex and he’s feeling a lot better and looking to come back up from Swansea this Thursday.”

Looking to tomorrow, defender Lee Kilday insists there is no time to stew on Sunday’s Scottish Cup defeat as Morton go from facing Celtic at Parkhead to Rangers at Ibrox in the space of five days.

He said: “We have another massive game on Friday now, away to Ibrox — so it doesn’t get any easier.  We’ll need to prepare well for that and see what we can do.”