Young duo are glad to be here

Chris Tait • Published 2 Sep 2010 14:00 0 Comments

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MORTON youngsters Nathan Shephard and Ryan Kane say they feel grateful to be at Cappielow - after seeing some of their old youth team-mates thrown on the football scrapheap.

The teenagers were the only two members of last year’s under-19 team to be offered first-team deals this year, having impressed boss Allan Moore enough to be promoted to his squad for the new season.

And while the duo, both 18, are relishing their opportunity, they also feel somewhat fortunate after seeing their former youth team-mates forced to leave the club.

In his first interview for the Tele, Kane said: “There were a couple of other boys in trying to win a contract, like myself and Nathan.

“But unfortunately the manager felt he already had strength in their positions so those boys were released and it was just me and Nathan that were offered contracts.

“If I’m being really honest I thought I deserved a contract because I did well with the 19s, I felt quite fortunate but I think I deserved it.”

Shephard added: “I thought that me and Ryan were among the better performers and were probably the most consistent.

“I am a bit fortunate because the management team came in and they’d obviously never seen me before, but they must have been impressed and thought we could turn into good players.

“At the time, we were thinking if James Grady and Allan McManus had kept their jobs we would have had a good chance, but that happens in football, and we’re fortunate Allan Moore liked what he saw.”

The pair have impressed during a handful of appearances for Ton this season, and both were handed starts in the recent Co-operative Insurance Cup defeat to SPL side St Johnstone.

Moore yesterday told the Tele one of the reasons he has opted not to offer a deal to ex-Dundee left-back Eddie Malone was because he wanted to give Shephard and Kane a chance.

Shephard is refusing to look too far ahead, saying: “When Kevin McKinlay comes back from injury, I’m going to have to try my best to get another chance. All I can do is try my best in training.”

Kane says he is looking to secure regular outings and a lasting career at Cappielow. He said: “I hope to be involved as much as I can and impress the manager and hopefully get signed on again for years to come.”

And the midfielder feels Moore is the sort of manager who will offer younger players plenty of opportunities to prove themselves at this level.

He said: “He did say to us when we first signed that it doesn’t matter what age we are, he’ll play us, and that’s quite positive if you’re a youth player. He’s doing really well with me at the moment, I think he’s a great manager so I hope to learn a lot.”

The sentiment was echoed by Shephard: “He said that we should be treated as men. He brings us back out in the afternoon and helps us with parts of our game quite a lot.”

This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 02 Sep 10

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