Former Celtic striker Johnstone made a season-long move to Cappielow on 31 July, and has registered three goals and two assists in his 10 appearances so far.

In a preview for today’s match with RaithTV, Stark’s Park boss McKinnon, pictured, outlined the quality of the Ton squad and admitted Johnstone was a player he had targeted but was unable to bring to Kirkcaldy.

He said: “Morton have picked up a few points away from home this season and will be a counter-attacking team.

“They’re a very good team — I watched them against Rangers last week — and I do know a lot about most of their players. They’ve recruited well.

“People like Denny Johnstone came up from England that I was interested in but simply could not go and approach.

“They’ve got him and it shows their ambition and their backing.

“They’ve got the young lad [Alex] Samuel from Swansea, [Peter] MacDonald from Dundee, [Michael] Tidser up from England and Bobby Barr from Brechin, who we know a lot about.

“They’re a strong squad as well and Jim Duffy has got them doing well in this league, so I expect a really tough test from a really good team.”