Published: Friday, 30th July, 2010 2:00pm

Stu will be Ton's rock at back

MORTON have signed St Johnstone defender Stuart McCaffrey on a season-long deal as Allan Moore puts the finishing touches to his squad.

The 31-year-old was a stalwart of the Saints side that won promotion to the SPL in season 2008-09, but missed most of the last campaign through injury.

The defender underwent a double hernia operation last season, which meant he played only 12 times in the top-flight.

McCaffrey's last competitive game was against Kilmarnock in December, but he now has the chance to regain match fitness at Cappielow.

Moore told the Tele: "I spoke to the physio team at St Johnstone and also the fitness coach, who said Stuart has been flying in pre-season.

"It can always happen that you sign a player and then he gets injured again, but we are confident Stuart will come in and play a part for us this season.

"He's a seasoned pro and we've got quite a young team so his experience will be important to us. We also hope he will help young Grant Evans develop.

"Stuart is a good footballer. He's a bit like Marc Smyth in that he is quite slim and can play the ball out from the back, which is how we want to play.

"He was a mainstay of the St Johnstone side which won the First Division title and the main thing now is that we can keep him free of injuries."

Moore feels satisfied the club now has adequate cover for the defensive positions.

He said: "We now have Stuart, Grant Evans, big Stewart Greacen and Marc Smyth.

"It means we now have cover at the back, which is very important for a long season because it means if we have injuries then we can deal with it.

"We have managed to keep the back door shut in pre-season so hopefully that will continue."

Moore also confirmed Stewart Greacen is inching back to fitness.

He said: "He did some training over the past couple of days and we will now wait to see if his shin splints settle down. It is the same situation with Brian Graham."