MORTON boss Jim Duffy expects tonight’s friendly against Livingston to be a thorough examination of a squad that is still very much a work in progress.

Duffy is working to assemble a roster to compete in next season’s Championship following the departure of 11 senior players at the end of last term.

The Cappielow club travel through to the Tony Macaroni Arena this evening to face David Hopkin’s side in their first open-doors match of the summer.

Duffy expects his thin squad to be stretched but welcomes the challenge as he views it as a necessary preparation for their upcoming League Cup group section.

He told the Tele: “I keep in touch with David Hopkin and we were chatting and the conversation came round to playing a game.

“Davie phoned and said they would like it at their place and to make it open door. Ideally, I would have preferred a close door at this stage but it was fine.

“At the end of the day, it’s not a big issue. We know we are a good bit away from being ready yet for the new season.

“We don’t have a full complement of players yet, but we’ll get on with the game and I’m sure it will be as competitive as the games were against Livingston last year.

“We have played some closed doors games to give us the opportunity to make substitutions and look at some players when the opposition is decent but not top notch.

“These matches give us enough of the ball to build confidence, whereas the next two games are open door and against very tough opposition.

“Against Livingston the quality of opposition goes up a level. There is the competitive aspect and they are building for the new season as well and will have new players look to establish themselves.

“So yeah it will be a much more competitive match and from our point of view, it’s the structure and shape of the team we’re looking at.

“We don’t have all the personnel yet so there will be certain elements we will be looking at that we don’t think is far away, primarily the defensive unit.

“In terms of the midfield balance and the front areas we haven’t quite got that yet, so that might be a wee bit disjointed and that might be an area of the pitch we’re not as comfortable as we’d like.

“That’s just the nature of it. I’m not overly concerned about it, but in an ideal world you’d like to have two of the three areas quite organised.

“We’ll take it a bit at a time and there are still another couple of weeks until the season starts and we’ll keep adding as we go.”

Duffy’s striking options could be bolstered by the inclusion of Jamie McDonagh - if he is permitted to turn out as a trialist in the match.

The Northern Irish Under-21 international has agreed a one-year deal with the Ton but the paperwork is not expected to be completed and processed in time to have him registered to play.

He added: “In the past I don’t think you were allowed to play trialists if they needed international clearance. If they came from England, you needed clearance.

“Jamie McDonagh, for example, was last registered with the English FA, so I will need to check if he is able to play as a trialist. He will be involved against Livingston if he’s allowed to.”

Three players who will not be available for selection against the West Lothian outfit are defenders John Tennent, Mark Russell and Conor Pepper.

Duffy explained: “John Tennent has a bit of a foot injury. He has missed the last few days with that and will be going for an X-ray, so he won’t be involved.

“Conor Pepper started off pre-season but felt his knee after a couple of days. He had an operation on it a month or so before the end of the season.

“He’s felt it, in terms of having a reaction after getting back into the daily training routine, and he’s not done anything for the last week.

“Mark Russell got a knock last week, an injury on the side of his knee, and didn’t take part in the closed-doors games over the weekend and hasn’t trained since.

“We’re hoping it’s not too much, just an impact injury on the outside of his knee, but he’ll certainly not play against Livingston, that’s for sure, and we’ll see how he is for the Partick Thistle game.”

  • ·         Kick-off at the Tony Macaroni Arena is at the earlier than usual time of 7pm, with admission priced at £10 for adults and £5 for all others.