DEREK Gaston insists he doesn’t want to be the second choice goalkeeper if he stays at Morton.

The shotstopper has been at Cappielow for six seasons, making 40 appearances for the side this season, the most he has made in a single campaign since joining the Ton back in 2012 from Albion Rovers.

And while Gaston admits he could understand being dropped during the season if his performances weren’t up to standard, he admitted he would like to head into next season being the first choice goalkeeper for the new manager.

He told the Tele: “I’d rather be starting, I’ve started the majority of games over the last six seasons and you get used to it.

“I wouldn’t want a new manager coming in and saying to me I’d be starting off the season as second choice.

“If it ends up during the season I’m second choice then so be it. That’s down to my own doing and through bad performances, but it’s one of those things.

“You hope that the new manager sees you as his number one goalkeeper and that’s the ideal situation and you’ve just got to hope for.”

Gaston has made over 200 appearances for the Greenock side and is one of the Ton’s longest serving players left at Cappielow after defender Thomas O’Ware decided to leave the club this summer.

Morton have been unable to honour contracts previous manager Jim Duffy had offered before he left at the end of April, with all of Morton’s players over the age of 23 being forced to wait until a new boss is appointed, a decision made by the Ton board.

And while this isn’t the first time the goalkeeper has had to wait to sign a contract, he admits it’s a tough situation to be in, especially with the prospect of being left without a club to play for in just a few weeks time.

He added: “I’ve been there for six years. I enjoyed my time at Morton and it depends on what the new manager wants to do.

“He might want to bring in a new goalkeeper or two, and I just need to see what his plans are.

“You can’t take anything for granted in football and you’ve just got to wait to see what his plans are, and he might want to offer wages in other positions which may have previously been offered to me.

“It’s not a good time of the season for footballers in general. There is a lot of uncertainty and your future is on hold and as it stands you’re unemployed in a few weeks.

“Until you’ve got something properly sorted you can’t enjoy your summer until you know you’ve got a job.”