MORTON chairman Crawford Rae says new manager Ray McKinnon’s desire to bring youth players through fitted in well with the club’s vision.

The former Dundee United boss was appointed on a one-year rolling deal on Wednesday.

After sifting through 182 applications for the job last month Rae, chief executive Warren Hawke and director of youth Derek Anderson felt McKinnon was the right man to take the Greenock club forward.

The Ton under-20s won the Development League West in April, and the club are keen to tap into their own academy more in the coming years.

McKinnon revealed to the Tele yesterday he was keen to involve youth in his first-team squad next season, having at least four members of the under-20s involved to back up the squad and help with their development.

Rae says the desire to promote home-grown talent, as well his good record in the Championship with Dundee United and Raith Rovers, made him the ‘stand-out candidate’.

Rae told the Tele: “He’s got a fantastic win to game ratio, the whole thing just fitted in well with our vision.

“He’s got a great desire to bring youth through, we’ve got a great youth academy, we’ve got a lot of good boys coming through and we’ve got a good pathway.

“It’s been a tough last few weeks, and it’s been a tough interview process. We had over 150 applications, we had a rigorous interview process, which myself, Warren and Derek Anderson did, and it was hard work. 

“There were a lot of hours put into it but we’re confident we’ve got the right man, and we’re looking forward to getting started.”

The chairman has outlined his desire to see the Ton back in the Premiership within three years.

The Inverclyde side were last in Scottish football’s top flight in 1988, and Rae, who took over from his father Douglas in April, hopes to make Morton a top tier team again.

He added: “One of the regrets my father, who was chairman for 17 years, had was that he never managed to bring topflight football to the people of Inverclyde.

“My father isn’t keeping well at the minute, his health is poor, and that is now one of my ambitions.

“We’ve a three-year target and will try our very best to bring top-flight football to Inverclyde. “We’ve got a very tough league this year, there’s no getting away from that, it’s a building process.

“Everyone is capable of beating everyone on the day, and it’s about getting the better of your opposition through small things like fitness and these are things we’re going to be working heavily with.”

The chairman also paid tribute to previous manager Jim Duffy for his four-year tenure at the club, but said it was the right time to change.

Rae said: “Jim Duffy did a great job over the last four years, we were down in League One and Jim got us out of there.

“He’s stabilised things but like anything in football there’s a time to freshen things up.”