MORTON boss Jim Duffy says he’s ‘delighted’ to put pen to paper on a new contract at Cappielow and is hopeful of emulating last season’s successes both on and off the pitch.

Duffy signed a deal yesterday afternoon keeping him in Greenock until the summer of 2019. 

The manager insists he’s happy with where the club is at this moment in time in terms of infrastructure — as well as the squad he has at his disposal.

While he understands that so-called ‘long-term objectives and ambitions’ cannot be taken lightly, Duffy is also fully aware that life as a football manager can be precarious.

So he doesn’t put too much stock into the ‘long-term’. 

However, the 58-year-old is looking forward to the challenges ahead this season — and the following two years after that.

He exclusively told the Tele: “A new contract isn’t something you think too much of as a manager, but of course it’s still great to be offered one rather than the boot being on the other foot and being asked to leave!

“So that’s much more pleasant when the chairman comes to you and offers you a new contract. I’m delighted with that being signed and done, and we look forward to the challenge that this season brings.

“I don’t look too much at long term ambitions because as a football manager I don’t really think you can do that.  But I definitely think the club is better on and off the pitch over the last few years. 

“Not down to me, but a lot of things have improved in the background from the commercial aspect to the development programme.

“The infrastructure is a lot stronger and my goal is to primarily try and make sure the first team improve. 

“We’re not like English clubs or some of the bigger Scottish clubs who can give four or five year contracts. 

“Once you start doing that you can maybe then say ‘right, we’ve got this group of players for a certain number of years’, but generally speaking our turnover of players is normally quite high.

“What we’ve got to try and do is try and manage expectations. We understand that expectations will always rise and we have to try and at least emulate the previous season if not better it. 

“That’s always going to be the challenge.”

Morton have Livingston to contend with in tonight’s Irn-Bru Cup tie, and Duffy is hopeful that his side can perform as well as they did on Saturday afternoon in their magnificent mauling of Renfrewshire rivals St Mirren.

He said: “The game against St Mirren was a high-profile game, a huge match and a terrific result for us. 

“But we don’t really get the chance to enjoy it because straight away you have to prepare for the next game. 

“From the fans’ point of view they can enjoy it a lot more but the players have to go straight into thinking about the next game.

“Livingston are on a phenomenal run and it’s going to be a very difficult tie. The players will have to work extremely hard as they did on Saturday. 

“But we’ll be doing the best we possibly can to get ourselves into the hat for the next round.”

Defender Michael Doyle limped off against the Buddies at the weekend and Duffy says he’ll assess the 26-year-old’s fitness before kick-off.

He added: “It was a calf injury Michael suffered and we weren’t sure at the time if he’d suffered a slight strain or it was just tightness. 

“But he seemed not too bad yesterday and we’ll make a decision from there this morning.”