JIM McAlister wants to prove to former manager Ray McKinnon that he was wrong to leave Morton to join 
Falkirk.

McKinnon left the Ton in controversial circumstances back in August, just three months into his time at Cappielow.

Morton’s players, staff and fans were left stunned after he signed on a two-year deal with the Championship’s bottom side.

McKinnon spoke at his first press conference as Bairns boss, saying: “I just felt that I would probably have a better opportunity to achieve my ambitions here. It was purely a football decision.”

The Morton captain admits those remarks added fuel to the fire for their game today, and he hopes the Ton can come away with a resounding victory.

He told the Tele: “That should be the biggest motivation, the manager left and went to Falkirk because he felt he had a better squad of players and could achieve more.”

“That’s all the motivation for whatever starting 11 the manager picks and it’s all the motivation we need.

“It’s a good game to have after the break, when things happened previously it was a fixture the boys looked for and we were eager to see when it was coming up.

“Our fans will be fired up for the game and hopefully they can back us to a positive result.”

What made McKinnon’s exit stranger for the Ton players was there was no hint of him wanting to leave, even posing in the team photo the day before he departed.

He left training after preparing the Morton team for their game against Partick Thistle, but went straight to Falkirk to meet with the Bairns chiefs shortly, and was confirmed as their boss just a few hours later.

His assistant Darren Taylor messaged all the players explaining their decision to move, but the players have received no word from McKinnon since.

McAlister added: “I don’t think anybody has spoken to him since, that’s the bizarre thing about it and that makes the whole thing a lot more awkward when you do come face to face with him.”

The Bairns have picked up just one win since McKinnon was appointed manager, losing the other five fixtures.

McAlister says Ton they must put as much distance as they can between themselves and the struggling Falkirk side.

He said: “They’re a team that are struggling down the bottom but that counts for nothing on the day. Any team can turn it, so we’re going to have to be wary.

“But they’re showing signs of vulnerability as they’re still not picking up many points. We need to be aggressive and capitalise on that and take the game to them and play on the front foot.

“It’s vitally important that we try and put as big a gap between Falkirk and the other teams at the bottom as possible.”