NEW Morton signing Connor McManus revealed a glowing report from ex-Ton loanee and pal Luke Donnelly helped sell him on a move to Cappielow.

McManus penned a short term contract at Ton on Friday afternoon, keeping him in Greenock until December 31. 

The defensive midfielder was in the starting line-up on Saturday against Motherwell due to defensive casualties within the Ton ranks.

The 21-year-old told the Tele how the whirlwind 24 hours came about for him — and the conversation he had with his former Celtic youths team-mate Donnelly, inset, about the prospect of joining the squad.

He told the Tele: “The manager contacted me and just asked me to come in to train and have a chat, and then take it from there. He then offered me a deal and as soon as that was the case, I was delighted to sign.

“To go in and play the next day, in a position relatively unfamiliar to me, is a good experience. Wherever the manager wants me to play this season, I’ll always give my all.

“I’ve played more, probably, against a lot of the boys. Playing through Celtic youths and having played against Morton when I was out on loans, I know most of the boys having played against them. 

“But between Friday and Saturday it’s the first time I’ve really been involved with any of them.

“I played quite a few games at Cappielow with the under-20s for Celtic, that’s where our home games were, so it’s a familiar place and hopefully I can continue to work hard, try and force myself into the team and play there even more 
often.

“I’m very close to Luke Donnelly, I actually spoke to him before I made the move and he told me to ‘absolutely go for it’, that’s the place to go and play, he said the manager is going to help you develop and it’s a good dressing room — which I can see.

“He was full of praise for the club, and I can already see why.”

McManus is aware of manager Jim Duffy’s rigorous research method of any potential new players - where the boss contacts former coaches and managers of new prospects to find out their nature and what they are like to work with.

And he admits he was pleased to hear that all references were five-star. Now he hopes to earn the respect of his peers on the pitch as well as being considered a nice guy off it.

He added: “It’s always nice to have that good reputation. In terms of football, it’s nice to be known as a good person, but I’d like to earn respect of the fans and players on the pitch, that’s important.”

The ex-Celt made his debut for Morton against Stephen Robinson’s Steelmen at the weekend, and he says that while a 4-0 defeat obviously wasn’t the result they wanted, positives can be taken moving forward.

He said: “There’s some positives to take. It’s still early in the season, I was playing out of position, but I felt as though there were mistakes that we made against Motherwell that we can rectify.

“Last season you could see the way the Morton team were playing, how effective they were and a lot of games they were dominating. But you come to a Premiership side, it’s always going to be difficult and I think it was the manner in which we lost the goals that was so disappointing. I also think we need 11 men on the pitch to go and affect the game.”