JIM Duffy hopes new loan goalkeeper Ross Doohan can learn a lot during his time at Morton as well as compete for the No.1 jersey with Derek Gaston.

Doohan joined up with his new Ton teammates last Thursday after penning a short-term deal from Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic to challenge Gaston for his spot.

And manager Duffy insists he’s confident that his new star can make a fist of it as well as adapt to life in the competitive Championship —  which is a world away from the Development League where Doohan is used to playing his football for Celtic under-20s.

Duffy told the Tele: “Derek Gaston has the jersey at this moment in time and we’ve explained that to Ross, who was fully aware of that before he came in. 

“It’s up to Derek to keep his performances at the level he’s capable of.

“He’s an outstanding goalkeeper and I think last week against St Mirren he was absolutely terrific. 

“He gave us a great platform to go and win the game by being so commanding. So if Derek can keep that level of performance up, then he keeps the jersey.

“Celtic are understanding that Ross is coming here to compete and it gives him a chance to look at different ways to improve and the different demands rather than playing in the Development League with Celtic. 

“It can become quite comfortable for young boys at that age because Celtic dominate most of the levels of Scottish football.

“He’s happy to come here and learn. Not just whether he’s playing or not but the whole environment, the intensity of Championship football. We’re delighted to have him on board.”

Duffy also revealed that his next plan will be to farm out another goalkeeper Jamie McGowan on loan. 

The 20-year-old has made a handful of appearances for the Morton first-team but with the introduction of Doohan, he is set for a temporary move elsewhere.

He said: “What we want is competition. Young Jamie McGowan, who has come on leaps and bounds, I think the next stage in his development is to go out on loan to get regular first-team football. 

“He did it for a spell last year but we had to bring him back early because Gats got injured.

“I spoke to Jamie about this in the summer, it’s not something that we’ve just done in the last week or two. 

“It was all about getting the right guy in and I think young Ross has terrific potential. We’ll look to send Jamie McGowan out there to continue his progress.”