MORTON midfielder Joe McKee has expressed his frustration at a lack of playing time under current manager Kenny Shiels.

The 21-year-old former Livingston, Burnley, and Bolton player was brought to Cappielow by Allan Moore last May and later signed a one-year extension to his deal, tying him up until summer 2015.

He made a promising start to his Ton career but suffered an ankle injury at Falkirk last August and spent seven weeks on the sidelines.

McKee never quite cemented his place in the starting line-up following his return to action and became a bit-part player under new boss Shiels. Since the Northern Irishman took charge of the Ton on 16 December 2013, he has made just one start, in which he was withdrawn at half-time, and three substitute appearances.

And his anger came to a head last Saturday when Shiels put him on in place of injured midfielder David Robertson on 34 minutes and then subbed him back off again on 59 minutes.

As he was leaving the pitch, McKee refused to shake his manager’s hand or listen to his explanation and later hit out on Twitter.

He wrote: “Very frustrated with what happened to me yesterday. Felt as if I’ve not had a chance. [Is] 45 minutes out of 15 games enough to prove yourself?

“I was put on after 32 minutes and taken off after 58. Is that fair? What do you think?” McKee also made a criticism of football fans in Scotland; one which several Ton fans felt was aimed directly at them.

He tweeted: “Amazing how up in Scotland if you run around like a headless chicken people see that as ‘good play’. [They] don’t appreciate what football is.

“These people must watch La Liga and Match of the Day on a Saturday night and think it’s rubbish.” But he later insisted the jibe was not meant for Morton supporters, adding: “Did I say MORTON fans? No.

“[I] apologise if I offended any Morton fans yesterday on Twitter. It wasn’t meant. Emotions were running high with being relegated.” When contacted by the Tele, McKee declined to fully comment on the incident at Recreation Park or his tweets but did say: “It was purely frustration with what happened to myself and the club getting relegated.

“Obviously I’ve not done it the right way. It was a silly thing to do and I’ve apologised to the fans. I didn’t mean any harm by it and as far as I’m concerned that’s it finished with.” When asked about his future with the club, he said: “I’m still contracted for next season. I’m a signed player and I’m not going to say much more.”