MORTON kid Ruaridh Langan admits the nerves almost got to him last Saturday during his Championship debut against Queen of the South.

Langan made his first-team debut for the Greenock club at the tail end of July against Edinburgh City in the Betfred Cup. 

But it wasn’t until last weekend that the midfielder made the jump to league competition for the first time.

He says his nerves were jangling before taking to the pitch in the dying minutes of the 2-1 defeat to Gary Naysmith’s outfit.

Having been stuck at centre-back for Darren Barr’s Morton Under-20s through necessity in recent months, Langan has barely kicked a ball in his favoured central midfield role.

And the 19-year-old reckons that added to the pressure he felt as he headed onto the field before manager Jim Duffy calmed him down and he eventually settled.

He told the Tele: “It was great to get a few minutes in my league debut. Even though it was only a few minutes it’s one of those where once you’ve got it you can’t really take it away. I was pleased to get on.

“The last few weeks I’ve been on the bench and there have been a few injuries recently so I always thought there’s a chance I would get on. I was always hoping I’d get on and when the manager told me to get ready to go on I couldn’t get the gear off quick enough.

"You’re 2-1 down at that point and kind of chasing the game so it was always going to be a wee bit nerve-wracking. It should hopefully stand me in good stead for the future. It was a busy week what with the development team playing two games and the first team on Saturday.

“There was also a few more nerves because I hadn’t played at centre-mid since the Queen of the South game for the 20s when we were 4-1 up and lost 6-4. It’s been a good few weeks and it was nice to be back playing in my favoured position after playing at centre-back for so long.

“But the manager told me to calm down after my first touch and it went okay after that. I was just pleased to get on.”