DENNY Johnstone says he’s hoping to take his game to the next level at Morton — but Ton fans will have to wait until he makes his return to action.

The former Birmingham City forward signed a one-year deal on Tuesday for his second spell at the Ton after being on a season-long loan at Cappielow during 2015-16.

The forward endured frustrating periods at Colchester United and St Johnstone after leaving Morton, but says his stints at those clubs has helped him progress.

But after suffering a knee injury back in April at Saints, Johnstone is still recovering from his operation, and is likely to be out for up to seven weeks, meaning he looks set to miss the Betfred Cup group stage next month.

He told the Tele: “I’m absolutely delighted to sign, especially now that pre-season has started. I’m glad to be signed up, I’m still injured at the moment and I’m just working on getting fit.

“I had my operation back in April. I injured my knee last season at St Johnstone so I’ve still got about six or seven weeks for that injury before I’ll be ready. I’m hoping to be back for the first league game, but I’m well on the way to recovery now. 

“It’s feeling great, I’m progressing really well and I should be back to running fairly soon.

“I feel like I’ve got another level to kick on from when I was here last time.”

After manager Ray McKinnon told the Tele yesterday he had tried to sign Johnstone previously, the 23-year-old says feeling wanted by the boss played a big part in his decision to move to the Championship side.

After the forward felt he was wrongly utilised at Colchester and unable to get a run of games under his belt at St Johnstone, he is hoping consistency at Cappielow under McKinnon will help bring out the best in him.

He said: “It was a great learning experience at Birmingham and Colchester. The only thing I would say is you need to go and play for a club and a manager that knows your playing style.

“There were a lot of long balls played and most of the number nines in the English League Two were just expected to play that physical role. It didn’t really suit me at times but again I enjoyed it, it was a good learning experience.

“My time at St Johnstone was up and down, the main problem was I could never really get a good run in the team.

“We got to Christmas time and I managed to score against Rangers and scored again pretty soon after, but I couldn’t get the run in the team I was needing so couldn’t really get up to speed fitness-wise.

“That’s one of the things Ray knows that will get the best out of me. He knows playing me week-in, week-out I’m going to get my fitness up and I’ll be back to scoring goals which is what I’ll be needing.”