MICHAEL Doyle insists his Morton side are disappointed to exit the Betfred Cup at the group stages this season after last year’s semi-final heroics — but says their focus is now solely on the Ladbrokes Championship.

Ton fell at the first hurdle in this term’s League Cup after failing to pick up enough points against Motherwell 
and Queen’s Park. 

But the upbeat defender put a positive spin on the failure to qualify from Group F, saying they can now concentrate on improving on last season’s fourth place finish.

He told the Tele: “I was speaking to Bob McHugh and we were saying about how the cups are good, but that we’re disappointed that we didn’t progress. 

“We were saying though that the league is the big thing, we want to finish as high up the table and we want to beat last year’s fourth place.

“If you ask anyone ‘would you rather have a good cup run or be fighting for promotion?’, I think most of us would answer the same way and that would be to be pushing for the league.”

Morton begin their Championship campaign away to Dumbarton on Saturday afternoon and Doyle believes the Greenock men face a challenge on two fronts. 

He says that while the Sons will be tough opponents, Ton also have difficult conditions to deal with at the Rock.

He said: “It’s not ideal to be starting away from home because Dumbarton are tricky. 

“People will point to them being part-time but the conditions there are a big factor as well. 

“They’re a strong team and we’ve played enough times against them to know what kind of team they are.

“When you go to Dumbarton though, you’re fighting on two fronts against the team and the conditions. 

“They’re more used to the conditions than we are, but we’re looking forward to it. I always enjoy playing at Dumbarton.”

Doyle enjoyed his 26th birthday on Tuesday, but celebrations were modest for the self-proclaimed ‘busybody’ of the Morton dressing room. 

He joked: “Thankfully there was no sing-song but I just had to buy some cakes. My job was to buy them for everyone else. 

“There were no special requests but no matter what cake you get, Forbesy [Ross Forbes] always moans!

“We were just training and then I went out for a meal with the family. 

“Everyone was working during the day anyway so even if I wasn’t at training I’d have been sitting in the house myself! 

“But we got the Wednesday off, so my birthday landed on a good day.”