MORTON boss Kenny Shiels insists he is in it for the long haul at Cappielow and is already in the process of putting a plan together to get out of League One at the first time of asking.

Club owner Douglas Rae recently expressed his disappointment with his manager’s performance and said his future would not be considered until the end of the season.

Shiels has accepted his chairman’s criticism, admitting it was justified and that he feels guilty for letting him down so far. However, the Northern Irishman is eager to remain in charge and repay Rae by endeavouring to get things right next term.

He told the Tele: “I’m preparing and working for next season — and I’ll keep doing that until I’m told not to. But I feel as if I’m going to be in place next season.

“The chairman was right to be critical of me. I have no problems with people saying things about me as long as they’re justified.

“That’s fair game. I feel a duty to him, especially him, a duty to achieve better. And he’s 100 per cent right: I’ve underperformed “When I came in in December, I just had to do what I thought was right — and I made mistakes. In hindsight now I could have kept players like Craig Reid, Mark McLaughlin, people like that. But I wanted to change it, to give the squad a freshness.

“I made mistakes — and we all make mistakes — but it’s just that I feel really guilty, especially for the chairman.

“I owe it to the chairman. He’s shown faith in me and I have to return that.

“I’ve let him down so far and I must make sure that I get things right.

“I want to get Morton into the Premiership eventually. We just have to take a year out now and try and get ourselves back: one step back to take two forward.

“I want to be successful for this club. I want this club to be successful and I want to be part of it.

“It’s important that I get us back up and we push on again.

“Hopefully this time next year we’ll be in a good position to get back up into the Championship and have a better foundation.

“I’m here for the long haul, to develop the club and bring more innovation.

“If I get my teeth into this one I’ll make sure the club is like a working committee and things like that which need to be addressed.

“There are a lot of things that need to be addressed off the football pitch and I’m the person to do that. I’m committed to this club and hopefully people see that.” Shiels, pictured below, is attempting to put the pieces in place for next term by inviting trialists to train and play in bounce games between now and the end of the season.

He added: “I’ll be running trials and getting players in to have a look at them to try and get good players in for next season.

“I was in London a couple of Sundays ago and had three separate appointments, meeting agents about players that they had.

“I went down at 9am, arrived at 2pm, left at 6pm from Euston before getting back into the house at midnight. If I want to sign a player I like to go and meet him and sell my club to him.

“Going down there gave me the opportunity to sell myself to them too. With us being, potentially, in the third tier in Scotland it means we aren’t as appealing to English players.

“I have a lot of contacts down there — I spoke to managers in England last Tuesday — and will be holding trials in the last couple of weeks of the season.

“I basically want Scottish players if I can, but I’ve watched how Inverness have got players too.

“No matter where they come from, I need hungry players who have something to prove.”