MORTON manager Jim Duffy labelled last season’s Championship the ‘toughest ever’ — but he doesn’t expect next year’s second tier to be any easier.

New clubs include relegated Dundee United and promoted Dunfermline Athletic, and they will be joined by two of Kilmarnock, Hibs and Falkirk after the Premiership play-offs are resolved.

Duffy guided Ton to a creditable fifth place finish this term, a final placing that the Cappielow gaffer describes as ‘more than decent’.

He says the objective for next season is always to improve upon last term, but he reckons the league promises to offer up another formidable roster of clubs.

When asked for his reflections on the campaign just passed, he told the Tele: “Over the course of the season we finished fifth in an unbelievably competitive league.

“You are always looking to be better and always look at what you could have done to improve things, but on reflection where we finished was a more than decent position for us. At the very start we lost Frank [McKeown], Peaso [Peter MacDonald], Michael Tidser, Joe McKee — you know, we had key players missing right from the get-go and through the season.

“The players can take a lot of credit for the effort they put in during the season, especially so when you consider we were battered by injuries the whole season, and from pre-season.

“Other people had expectations of where they thought we would be: some might have thought we would have finished beneath it, some might have thought we would have finished above it.

“I didn’t have any expectations. I said that from day one and that was the truth. It would be easy to say now that I thought we would do this and do that.

“But I genuinely didn’t know. How could I have had? I didn’t know how we would compete at that level with the quality of clubs in the divisions.

“You might have ideas in your in head if everybody’s fit and on song, thinking: ‘We could do alright here.

“But because we kept getting injuries and kept having to rejig the team, changing the personnel all the time, it was really about gathering points and seeing where we were.

“So when I reflect now I feel we had a more than decent season. It’s not exceptional but it’s more than decent.

“What is the objective for next year? At any football club you want to try and improve, that’s the bottom line. But, again, so many variables can affect it. If everybody’s healthy, if everybody’s up for the challenge, if the new players that come in click and you get that momentum.

“At this stage, we’ve lost nine players or so and we’re still looking to bring people in — we haven’t signed any new players for next season yet — so a lot will depend on those circumstances.

“There are a lot of things you have to consider, and also how the opposition change and perform. They could improve so you need to make further strides forward yourself.

“In any new season every single team goes in with the optimism of doing well, but I don’t think the division will be any weaker next year than it was this year.

“Dundee United are now officially in the division, Dunfermline are now officially in the division, and there is the outcome of the play-offs to consider.

“Rangers have gone up and Dundee United have come down, but it’s not as if you look at it and go: ‘Right that’s Dundee United down, that’s that not as difficult as Rangers.’

“They’re an established club and have had one relegation in the last 20 years before this one, and before that it was probably at least another 20 years.

“They’re one of the big clubs in Scottish football and it will be every bit as difficult going to Tannadice as it was going to Ibrox.

“Then there’s Falkirk and Hibs in the play-offs. If one or two of them stay in the division depending on the play-offs …

“If you look at the league on paper, it’s unbelievably tough again. But we’re in it and we’re looking to do as well as we possibly can.

“There’s no guarantee you will be better than what you were, but that’s the target. The minimum target is to get one point better than you had last year.

“If you get that you’ve made a mini step forward — but ultimately you’re looking to do the best you can.”

Having had three separate spells as a Dundee player and two as manager, much of Duffy’s footballing career has been spent in the City of Discovery.

When asked how he felt Dundee United would fare after suffering their first relegation since competing in the memorable 1995-96 First Division, he said: “It’s difficult to say.

“St Mirren got relegated last season and it didn’t work out for them. Ian [Murray] was sacked and Alex [Rae] came in, and it took them a good few months to find their feet in the division.

"I think they were maybe still in shock when they went down because they had been a Premier League team for nine years or so and the quality of the Championship maybe took them by surprise. 

“I don’t really know — only the people there will know that. But it could be the case for Dundee United. They’ve got two ways of doing it: they could cut costs dramatically and hope they have enough quality in the squad to go back up or they could gamble and really throw a few quid at it.

“In that case they should be stronger than everybody else, but that’s a big risk to take in this division and there’s a lot of good clubs in this division.

“I think it’s a huge blow for the city of Dundee, there’s no doubt about that. They’ll miss the derbies, and Dundee United are seen as a really big club in Scottish football.

“You are talking about one of the top six clubs in Scottish football in terms of fanbase, history and stature.

“Ultimately, they’ll have to look after themselves but again it shows that with that level of club in our division it makes it such a tough league.”

After struggling as the Ton clinched the League One title in season 2014-15, Dunfermline bounced back by topping the table and securing a return to Championship this time around.

And Duffy added: “With Dunfermline coming up as well, they’ll invest to try and make sure they do what we did last year and make sure they’re not in a relegation battle and competing at the top end.

"That will be another challenge for everybody in the league because they will definitely be a very difficult side to play against next year.

“They come up with the confidence of winning the division and have Allan [Johnston] there who’s been there before. I think they’ll be another side who might surprise a few people next year.”