JACK Iredale insists playing first-team football on loan at Queen’s Park will be more valuable than watching his Ton team-mates from the bench as he heads to Hampden to gain competitive experience.

Iredale signed a short-term loan deal with Gus MacPherson’s Spiders on deadline day and immediately set his sights on playing regularly for the Scottish League One outfit.

The young Aussie defender revealed that Morton boss Jim Duffy didn’t force him into switching to Glasgow on loan, but says it was always the right move in his own mind to give him the best chance of making a success of his time in Greenock on his return.

He told the Tele: “I’ve not had a chance to go through to meet the Queen’s Park team yet, I’ll be training one night a week, so it’ll just be about figuring out which night that will be. But I’ll be through to meet them soon.

“First-team football is probably one of the main reasons I’m going out on loan, to get consistent game time and play every week. 

“It’s been a little bit inconsistent at Morton so far but every opportunity I’ve been given to play for the first team I’ve enjoyed it, but I’m looking forward to playing more consistently.”

“The gaffer [Duffy] wasn’t forcing me out on loan but he said it would be beneficial for me to go and get game time leading into the end of the year. He said that I’d be learning a whole lot more from actually playing every week.

“You can only learn so much from sitting on the bench and observing, all the learning comes from the actual game experience so I’m looking forward to gaining that.”

Iredale is already aware of Queen’s Park’s qualities having watched them earn a 2-2 draw with Ton earlier this season in the Betfred Cup group stage.

But it was their manager MacPherson who had a significant impact on Iredale’s choice to put pen to paper on the loan deal — because the former St Mirren gaffer tried to sign the defender before he joined Morton in the summer.

He added: “First-team football is always going to be tough and when Queen’s Park played Morton earlier in the season we got to see the standard of which they play. A lot of other teams in the same division will be linked to that so I’m definitely not taking it lightly because it’s going to be tough.

“From what I’ve heard, the manager is great. I’ve spoken to him on the phone once or twice but I’m looking forward now to working under him and seeing what else I can improve on.

“I already knew in my mind that the loan move would be the best thing for me. But I spoke to Gus MacPherson just before I signed for Morton and he was trying to get me to go and sign for Queen’s Park, so I knew he was interested and liked me as a player.

“It was good to know that he was genuinely interested in me as a player. He wants me at his club so hopefully it can lead to good things.”