Taking his chance

Martin Greig • Published 18 Feb 2010 14:00 0 Comments

IAIN RUSSELL is desperate to prove he is the solution to Morton's striking problems.

Ton have struggled to find the net this season and are looking to add another striker following Brian Wake's

departure to England last month.

However Russell - who turned in an excellent performance up front alongside Peter Weatherson in the 2-1 victory over Queen of the South last Saturday - is eager to prove to boss James Grady he is the man to add more firepower.

"Brian Wake has left and we are still trying to get another striker in," said Russell.

"We have a striker on trial just now. I understand that, because the team haven't scored enough goals.

"But, hopefully, over the next few games I can prove I'm the man to do that. It's between myself, Brian [Graham] and Peter to prove we can get the goals."

Russell has had a stop-start season after moving to Alloa on loan and then getting injured.

"I fell out of favour with the last

manager [Davie Irons] and it was

obvious that I wasn't going to get a chance under him at the start of this season," he reflected.

"I went to Alloa on an emergency loan but I was injured in the first game and didn't play much. Then, in the last

three games of my loan, I scored three goals.

"I came back [to Morton] for the Dundee game [the 3-1 defeat on 19 December] but with games being called off, there's not been many opportunities since then.

"Having said that, I feel fresh because I haven't played a lot of football this

season."

In contrast to the uncertainty under Irons, Russell feels integral to Grady's plans.

"When James came in he said he would have liked to have called me back from my loan but couldn't because it was an emergency loan," said Russell.

"He's been very positive with me in training and games and hopefully I can take my chance.

"I am hoping we are going to get a good run of games. It was a good result last weekend and it would have been nice to have scored but Peter and I worked well together and, personally, I did okay."

Saturday's 2-1 victory in Dumfries - with both goals from midfielder Stevie Masterton - continued Ton's

excellent record against Queen of the South and Russell declared himself very encouraged with the level of performance.

"Stevie [Masterton] did well to get

the goals but it was a good team

performance and we worked hard when they put us under pressure in the

second half."

Ton face second-top Ross County at Cappielow on Saturday and have a poor record against the Highlanders. However, Russell is confident.

"I think they are best footballing side in the division and they have been for the past couple of seasons," he said.

"They will be tough to beat but we must take the confidence from last week and, if we work as hard as we did then, hopefully, we can get something from the game.

"I think we are in a false position. It's easy to say that but we need to prove it."

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This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 18 Feb 10

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