JOE McKee has urged any players who might be offered a move to Morton this summer to jump at the opportunity because he believes it is the perfect place to kickstart your career.

Midfielder McKee signed for the Ton in the summer of 2013 and earned a move to English League Two outfit Carlisle United off the back of a fine individual campaign in last season’s Championship.

In recent years players such as Michael Tidser, Fouad Bachirou, Declan McManus, Luca Gasparotto and likely Denny Johnstone have won transfers through their Ton displays.

According to McKee, Cappielow is a fertile proving ground for hungry young players and recommends anyone approached by Jim Duffy to take the chance to sign on at Sinclair Street.

He told the Tele: “I would recommend Morton as a place to come and play football, especially under the gaffer.

“It’s a nice park. The pitch is always brilliant, so you can get the ball down and get it passed, and the gaffer likes to play that way.

“So any boys who are wanting to come and work hard every day and want to progress as player will have a great chance here.

“I was down south with Burnley and Bolton and it didn’t really happen for me there due to different circumstances.

“I came back up here, and especially under the manager [Duffy] and Hagi [Craig McPherson] it’s a good set-up with a nice feel to it.

“It’s good to come in every day. You come to training with a smile on your face and get the head down and work hard.

“With the way it has happened for me, in terms of coming to kickstart my career, it has worked out perfectly.

“It’s a good club and it’s been great for me. Playing for Morton is a good opportunity — if you do well here people take notice and you never know who is watching.

“That’s especially the case with the league the way it has been in recent seasons with big clubs and a lot of people coming to watch games.

“If you look back, Tids got his move to Rotherham, Freddie got a move to Sweden, Deccy got a move to Fleetwood, big Luca had a good season last year and it looks like he’s signing for Falkirk. But that doesn’t just happen.

Everybody grafts here and it’s about making progress as a player and working hard to be the best you can be. Morton is a good club to be at because they give you the platform to go and do that, and other clubs do take notice.”

Carlisle were one such club keeping tabs on McKee and he sealed a switch to Brunton Park with a string of fine performances that also earned him Telegraph Sport’s Player of the Year award.

Speaking as he was presented with the trophy at Cappielow yesterday, he beamed: “I’m delighted. I felt I had a good year last year after coming back from injury so it’s nice to get an award.

“Obviously you do the points week to week and I think that shows a consistency to my game that I was happy with.

“As well as the Telegraph award, I also received the Greenock Morton Supporters’ Club award, and it’s a nice feeling to receive that recognition at the end of a season.”

Cappielow boss Duffy is in the process of working to replace players such as McKee, but the 23-year-old is confident his former club will build on last season’s fifth-place finish.

He added: “I think they’ll do well. They don’t have many players just now and are trying to put the squad together, but it was similar when the gaffer first came in.

“We only had about five bodies and the gaffer put a full team together and we won the league. I know we scraped it at the line on the last day of the season, but we still won the league.

“And it was a difficult division League One, because it was dead physical and there wasn’t much football played. Then last year that squad went on and showed they could play.

“I’ve no doubt the gaffer will bring in good players. He’s made a few signings already, but he doesn’t just rush in and sign players.

“He wants to get the right people in and that’s vital. So I’ve no doubt that the club will have another successful season.”

For McKee, preparations for the English League Two campaign begin in earnest tomorrow and he is raring to go.

He concluded: “Our pre-season starts on Thursday. I think that’s a bit earlier than normal, but I just look on that as getting another week under my belt before the season starts.

“I got back from my holiday last week and the fixtures are released on Wednesday. I can’t wait to get started.”