CONOR Pepper admits he is not a fan of the radical Challenge Cup revamp that was recently unveiled by the SPFL.

Next season’s competition, re-christened the Irn-Bru Cup for sponsorship reasons, will see the addition of Premiership Under-20s sides, as well as Northern Irish and Welsh outfits.

Right-back Pepper sees no benefit to clubs like Morton in bringing top-flight colt teams on board and believes the changes to the tournament were not a risk worth taking.

He told the Tele: “I really don’t see what good can come out of playing an Under-20s team for us. If we get beat, we get slaughtered; if we win, we’re expected to win.

“There’s are also a lot of problems for other people with things like travel that maybe players don’t have.

“Look, we’ll turn up and try our best to win the game. 

“But someone else is going to have a different problem than me.

“I just think there are a lot of things other people are going to have to think about when we get there.

“To be honest, I might go to Wales and really enjoy myself and think: ‘I was talking nonsense’.

“Playing different teams can be enjoyable and young players are going to improve because they’re playing at a higher level. 

“So I don’t know … I just think it’s a risk they’re taking and if it doesn’t pay off then it’s a big mess for a season.”