RICKI Lamie believes Morton deserve credit for their accomplishments so far this campaign — because manager Jim Duffy had to rebuild his squad at the end of last season after losing the main core of his team.

Morton lost several key players at Cappielow after a respectable fifth place finish in last season’s Ladbrokes Championship.

Among them Denny Johnstone moved on to Colchester United, Bobby Barr left for Raith Rovers while Declan McManus also opted to sign for the Kirkcaldy outfit, rather than pen a third loan deal in Greenock.

Lamie insists these losses were a massive blow to the team — which is what makes this season’s successes even more impressive.

He told the Tele: “Denny Johnstone, Bobby Barr, Declan McManus. These players, at the beginning of the season were massive losses. It was difficult pre-season because I would have hated to have been in the gaffer’s shoes.

“Again, you look at the loan signings and you can rhyme off the names of the guys who performed brilliantly for us in vital areas.

“Goalscorers who win you games who departed. It sums it up, to me, that in pre-season we’ve kind of experimented a wee bit and added to the squad brilliantly.”

“I’m trying not to miss anyone out, but guys like Nizzy [Aidan Nesbitt], Jamie Lindsay, Andy Murdoch. These are now mainstays in the team.”

Lamie also praised his team-mates for their versatility and adaptability. 
Morton have not had their injury problems to seek this season, having lost a number of key players for weeks at a time.

Jai Quitongo, Kudus Oyenuga and Conor Pepper are currently long-term casualties. Meanwhile earlier in the season Lamie himself, Oyenuga, Gavin Gunning and skipper Lee Kilday all went through spells on the sidelines thanks to niggling problems.

Add to that the suspensions served by both Mark Russell and Jamie McDonagh, and Ton have lost plenty of their stars at one period of the season or another.

But Lamie believes this only goes to show the strength and endeavour of Duffy’s current playing squad that they’ve been able to overcome it all to sit third place in the Ladbrokes Championship — a mere five points off second-placed Dundee United with a game in hand.

He said: “The new boys who came in at the start of the season have been doing brilliantly, and are supplementing guys who were already with us and everyone has come on leaps and bounds.

“There is the versatility of everyone as well, you’ve got guys like Jamie McDonagh who has played right-back, up front and he played on the wing at St Mirren on the first day of the season. The team is littered with guys like that. I’ve played in different positions, Tam O’Ware, there’s an endless list of names. 

“And that’s a massive part of it. Even when we’ve been stuck with injuries or up against suspensions here and there, the gaffer has brought guys in who have done the business.

“You can bring someone like Michael Tidser off the bench — that shows you the strength we’ve got in the squad.”