Caldwell’s reputation took a hit when he brushed past then-Easter Road gaffer Terry Butcher after he was subbed on and then off again in the space of 13 minutes in a match against Ross County.

The 21-year-old felt his character was unjustly called into question as a result of that one incident and the stigma is something that has followed him since.

However, Caldwell believes he has shown he is far from the villain he has been painted as with the attitude and application he has shown since signing for the Ton.

Speaking exclusively to the Tele, he said: “I’ve been in and out of the team recently but I just need to keep going.

“There’s real competition for places up front, especially when you look at the pedigree of guys like Peaso [Peter MacDonald] and Dec [Declan McManus], who’s on loan from Aberdeen.

“But it’s not just with me, Peaso and Dec. There’s Jon Scullion and Stefan McCluskey who can play up there, as well as a couple of the young boys.

“I think it’s fair enough to say that not many people played that well against Forfar and I was dropped at Airdrie. My focus is always on getting my head down and trying to impress to get back in the team.

“But a lot of people for some reason seem to think I’ve got a bad attitude.

“People have been a bit wary about something that happened in the past at Hibs. “I had the argument with Terry Butcher about getting subbed on and subbed off, and people from then on just thought I was young boy who thought he’d made it with a bad attitude.

“It isn’t the case. It was just one thing with me and him — I didn’t shake his hand when I came off because I was annoyed and wanted him to know — and a mountain was made out of a molehill really.

“For some reason, people have made up their own minds and have just got that idea of me.

“But it’s people who don’t know me that haven’t really seen me play.

“I’m just out to prove them wrong. For example, I came on up at Peterhead. I’ve not mumped and moaned; I’ve just got in about the game and the boys came away with three points and I’d say I made a big influence on that game.

“It’s a four-hour journey up north.

“You want to make the most of it rather than sit in a huff. You want to get back in the next week and going in a huff isn’t going to get you on the teamsheet.” Caldwell also impressed off the bench against Airdrie, hitting the bar in his 14 minutes on the pitch, and was restored to the starting line-up for Saturday’s win against Ayr United.

And although he insists there will be no petted lip if he doesn’t start every week, being in manager Jim Duffy’s first XI is the aim.

He added: “It’s about getting game time really, I need to play games. That’s why I dropped down a couple of leagues and came to Morton.

“But as I said earlier, we have real competition here. It’s not easy. I’ve not come here looking for an easy ride at all. I’m happy to fight it out for my position. I just need to give it everything I’ve got.

“I go in to training to give everything I’ve got on that day and it’s the same in games at the weekends.

“At the end of the day, it’s up to the gaffer to pick the team and hopefully I’m in it from the start on Saturday.”