MORTON star Conor Pepper has been left ‘devastated’ after breaking down with a recurrence of the knee injury which had sidelined him for nine months.

Pepper — who has not played for the first team since being injured in February — was in the latest stage of his comeback when he crumpled to the ground a few minutes after half-time during an under-20s game against Clyde on Tuesday night.

The midfielder, who had earlier scored during the match, was left in agony and said to be ‘inconsolable’ as he trudged to the dressing room.

The 22-year-old could now face a further lengthy spell on the sidelines as he anxiously awaits news about the extent of the damage, and Ton boss Jim Duffy says everyone at the club is gutted for the Irishman.

He told the Tele: “It looks like it’s a recurrence of the previous injury that he’s had.

“But that’s all that we know at this time, really.

“We’ll have to get it reassessed and then we’ll try and find out the issue.

“It’s something that must be demoralising for Conor because I think it’s been three times now.

“Every time he gets close to getting himself back, he has another setback.

“We really feel for him because he’s worked really hard to get himself back to this stage and then he’s had the stuffing knocked out him.”

Pepper’s gradual return to action had been going well, with the club aiming to slowly build him back up to full fitness.

Now everyone at the club will have to rally round their team-mate as medics investigate his new injury flare-up.

Duffy said: “That was his third or fourth reserve game and he’d been playing 45 minutes here and there and we were trying to build it up.

“He played well [on Tuesday night], he scored a goal and looked really energetic and competitive.

“And then it just broke down again, so it’s really frustrating.

“For him personally, when you’re a young player and have put in as much work as he has to try and get back, it’s demoralising.

“We have to now pick him up and see if we can find the real issue and try and get it sorted properly.

“It is quite devastating for the boy but until we really get to the root of the problem then I couldn’t really tell what the situation is.”