ON the eve of Saturday’s League One opener against Ayr United, Morton sold star player Fouad Bachirou to Swedish second tier outfit Ostersunds FK.

The opening-day defeat that followed served to show how important it is that Ton boss Jim Duffy is allowed to use the wages freed up by the Comoros cap’s departure to strengthen his squad.

Neither side impressed at Somerset Park, it must be said, and the Cappielow club looked likely to at least claim a goalless draw until they were reduced to 10 men following Jordan Allan’s dismissal.

So it would be a complete over-reaction to hit the panic button as a result of a narrow loss in the first league fixture, particularly with Andy Barrowman and Stefan McCluskey both missing.

But if the aim is to return to the Championship at the first time of asking in order to ensure Morton benefit from playing against at least one of Rangers, Hearts or Hibs, there is no margin for error.

The current squad is still in need of reinforcement if they are to fully justify their full-time status and achieve that objective of being at the top end of the table come next May.

Make no mistake, the sale of Bachirou does not itself represent a lack of ambition. The player had made it clear, going as far back as May 2012, that he did not see his long-term future at Cappielow.

His desire was always to move on if the opportunity presented itself, and when the offer — believed to have been in the region of £20,000 — came in from Ostersunds, the expedient course of action was to let him leave rather than hold a potentially unhappy player to his contract.

After signing an extension in September last year, there can be little doubt that the 24-year-old was one of, if not the top earner on Sinclair Street.

And if Duffy can use the wages freed up to add more quality to his squad, particularly in the shape of an experienced central midfielder, it would be a positive by-product of Bachirou’s departure.

While the former Paris Saint-Germain youth was making for the exit door, striker Declan McManus was brought in on loan from Aberdeen.

With Barrowman and Stefan McCluskey sidelined through injury, 20-year-old McManus was thrown straight into the starting line-up in place of emergency targetman Thomas O’Ware.

And he was presented with an excellent opportunity to make a dream start to his time with the Ton after just five minutes.

Reading the game impressively, Lee Kilday burst forward to cut out Michael Donald’s attempt to feed Peter McGill and harnessed his forward momentum by striding on down the right.

The right-back exchanged passes with Jamie McCluskey on his way towards the bye-line and squared for McManus from a position level with the six-yard box.

The striker had stolen a march on marker Martyn Campbell at the front post but saw his first-time effort blocked by David Hutton’s right boot after he failed to make a crisp connection.

Morton survived a scare of their own when Peter Murphy met Jon Paul McGovern’s corner with a glancing header that flashed across the face of goal and narrowly wide of the upright.

Thereafter the visitors found themselves under the cosh, with their at times exposed back line coming under increasing pressure. Left-back Ricki Lamie was labouring against Alan Forrest, and had his name taken by referee Craig Charleston after a high challenge on the lively Ayr right winger.

McGill was also proving effective on the opposite flank, although most of his best work came after being forced inside by Kilday.

One such drive through the centre saw the 17-year-old evade four Ton challenges before he was unceremoniously felled on the edge of the box by Conor Pepper.

Pepper was cautioned for the foul but was spared further punishment when the resultant free-kick came to nothing.

Despite their superiority, Ayr rarely threatened to breach Derek Gaston’s goal in the first half, and on the one occasion they did find the net, Donnelly was rightly flagged offside.

Gaston, who was reinstalled between the sticks and wearing the captain’s armband, was forced into action in the final minute of the half, but comfortably patted down Forrest’s drive before gathering.

For their part, Morton were struggling in the middle of the park, neither offering enough protection to their defence nor showing composure in possession.

Their half was encapsulated in one moment when Michael Miller won the ball in the centre circle but then sent a pass sailing over McManus’s head. The striker had made the move to come short and was left standing with his arms outstretched in a gesture of exasperation. Although the sides went in level at the break, the warm round of applause that greeted the Honest Men as they left the pitch was a telling indication of how the first half had gone.

Duffy’s men had failed to get going but came back out with the bit between their teeth and began to carve out some meaningful openings after the restart.

On 55 minutes, Jamie McCluskey used the outside of his right to float an intelligent ball ahead of McManus down the inside-right channel.

Faced with Campbell, the Dons kid shifted the ball outside his body and whipped a low cross towards Jordan Allan arriving at the far post.

Allan, preferred at left midfield ahead of Mark Russell and tasked with limiting the impact of Ayr right-back Nicky Devlin, did well to readjust and acrobatically hook back towards goal.

With the ball looking destined to nestle in the back of the net, former Ton keeper David Hutton did superbly well to scramble across his line and claw clear down at his right-hand post.

Another excellent opportunity went begging one minute later when Miller failed to trouble Hutton with a free header from 10 yards after Kilday had picked him out with a precise cross.

Ayr were rocking at this stage, underlined by an anxious Murphy stabbing a Pepper cross towards his own goal as well as heading over Hutton for a corner in a similar situation.

The home fans’ nerves must have been shredded at this point, and they were left with their hearts in their mouth again on 63 minutes. Buoyed from his double against Berwick last week, Joe McKee whipped a free-kick around the defensive wall in an attempt to squeeze the ball just inside the right post.

But Ayr No 1 Hutton, who made four appearances in his one season at Cappielow, sprung to his left and clutched the ball with both hands at full stretch.

Ton had relied on O’Ware to lead the line as an emergency striker in recent outings, and he provided a goal threat within three minutes of joining the action on Saturday.

A clipped McKee corner was missed by Sean Crighton, but his leap caused Campbell to take his eye off the ball and inadvertently direct back it back into the danger area with a clumsy touch.

O’Ware was on hand to sweep the ball towards goal with his left foot but was prevented from breaking the deadlock by Devlin’s goal-line clearance.

But that bright spell was brought to an abrupt halt when, on 67 minutes, Allan was shown a straight red card for a wild challenge on Forrest.

It was a mindless and horribly misjudged tackle that left his team-mates in the lurch: from then on in, 10-man Morton were firmly on the back foot.

Ayr boss Mark Roberts replaced Campbell with trailist Dale Shirkie and moved former Morton midfielder Scott McLaughlin back into defence as he tried to press home their one-man advantage.

Yet, they were fortunate not to concede themselves when McManus picked up a loose ball, roasted McLaughlin for pace and floated a finish just over crossbar with the outside of his right boot. Ayr were making their extra man count by overloading down the flanks, though, and eventually punished Ton 11 minutes from time.

Left-back Donald found himself unopposed deep in the Ton half and with enough time to look up and swung a cross towards Donnelly lurking at the far post.

Former Albion Rovers frontman Donnelly peeled off Milojevic and planted a firm header past Gaston after the Serb centre-half had misjudged his attempt to cut out the centre.

The Honest Men should have added to their lead but Shirkie could only look on in agony as Miller raced back to hack clear after he had slipped the ball past Gaston.

McGill then spurned two glorious opportunities in quick succession, firing an angled volley against Gaston’s chest from point-blank range before thrashing a Forrest cut-back high over the top.

That failure to put the game to bed almost came back to haunt them when Kilday burst onto a McManus pass and forced his way into the right-hand side of the Ayr box.

But with just Hutton to beat, the defender failed to find the necessary composure and blazed over the top.

The miss ensured Ton would make a losing start to the league season for the first time since suffering a 1-0 reverse against Dundee at Dens Park in August 2009.