NEW Morton defender Gregor Buchanan is targeting another push for the Premiership next season, after achieving promotion twice last year.

The centre-back picked up a winners medal after playing for St Mirren a number of times during the first half of last year's campaign, before he then moved out on loan to Livingston, who won promotion to the Premiership via the play-offs.

He became new manager Ray McKinnon’s second addition of the summer on Friday, and the seventh first team player to be signed up for next season.

After spending a number of years in the division previously fighting relegation with part-timers Dumbarton, Buchanan admits he has a taste for success after last season and is looking to help Morton get back into Scottish football's top tier.

He told the Tele: “I’ve been in this Championship for a number of years, I’ve been with Dumbarton where you’re fighting for your life, and we did well to stay up in the past when we’ve been in really tough leagues.

“But now I’ve had a taste of the top end of the table, where I’ve won the Championship and got promoted through the play-offs.

“Once you get a feel for it that’s where you want to be every season in around the top end of the table.

"That won’t change when I come to Morton, that play-off push is one we’ll be aiming for.”

The 28-year-old will likely be part of a new look defence, with Thomas O’Ware and Ricki Lamie both moving on to Partick Thistle and Livingston respectively over the summer.

Buchanan himself turned down a deal at Livi, and after weighing up offers from elsewhere in the Championship opted for a move to Cappielow.

And the former Pars defender admitted new manager Ray McKinnon’s desire to bring the centre-back into the club played a big factor in his switch to the Inverclyde side.

He added: “It’s been a strange couple of weeks and I’ve had a lot to think about. "There were a lot of different situations to think about with teams in different leagues.

“Everyone at Livi got rewarded with new contracts so it was about weighing that up with the chance to play in the Premier League, and at this point I decided not to stay at the club.

“I spoke to a number of clubs in the Championship, and when after speaking to Ray and the focus and the plan of action they’ve got and how much he wanted me on board was a massive selling point.

“It’s a feeling I got from him right away after speaking to him on a number of occasions. He was very impressive and the way he wanted to get me on board, he wanted to do everything he possibly could to get me.

“That’s one of the factors when a new manager comes in you start fresh with him also, and I saw the journey possibility and thought this is where I wanted to be.”