RICKI Lamie admits Morton ran out of steam towards the end of the season — but believes they can be proud of their efforts throughout the campaign.

Ton fell to Dundee United in the quarter-finals of the Premiership play-offs by 5-1 on aggregate in a two-legged affair where the scoreline perhaps flattered the Tangerines.

But Lamie believes his team-mates can be chuffed with how the season has gone as a whole, and use this experience to have another bash at it next time around.

He said: “You can’t deny we’ve run out of steam a wee bit, it’s a long season and it’s plain to see. The resources and the size of squad isn’t as big as other teams have got. But that fills us with a bit more pride that we’ve managed to stay up 
there.

“In the last six or seven weeks we’ve looked dead on our feet, but it’s not as if the effort and endeavour isn’t there, the boys were trying their hearts out. It just wasn’t meant to be.

“We can definitely have another crack at it. We need to go at it with clear minds, think ‘here we go again’ and take every bit of confidence we can.”

Lamie is also confident boss Jim Duffy can add strength to his squad for the assault on the Championship next season — just as he did at the start of this campaign when he lost several key stars.

Ton have just released Conor Pepper, Kudus Oyenuga, Jon Scullion and Jamie McDonagh whilst loan aces Jamie Lindsay, Aidan Nesbitt, Luke Donnelly, Lawrence Shankland and Bryn Halliwell all returned to their parent clubs.

New contract offers have been tabled for others such as Michael Tidser, Andy Murdoch, Mark Russell, Michael Doyle and Lamie himself, with the players mulling over the deals with their representatives in the coming days.

But the defender is confident his manager can add more depth after losing a total of nine players in one fell swoop.

Striker Robert Thomson is already on his way from Dumbarton after signing a pre-contract agreement earlier this campaign, and Lamie reckons more will follow.

He added: “This is my third season at the club, guys have came and gone but the nucleus of the squad has stayed the same from the beginning. 

“It’s been myself and four or five others since the gaffer came in. But he’s very shrewd and experienced, he’s added well and I’m sure he’ll do that again.”