MORTON gaffer Gus MacPherson believes that his patience has paid off after securing the signing of former Dundee and Hearts goalkeeper Jack Hamilton on a one-year contract.

The 27-year-old former Scotland Under-21 international, who also received call-ups to the men’s national team, checked in at Cappielow on Tuesday night shortly before the 2-0 friendly win against Cumbernauld Colts.

With Hamilton training with Kilmarnock at their pre-season camp in Northern Ireland, MacPherson had to wait for the former Jambos 'keeper's signature.

The 52-year-old says that he has been impressed by the trialists, who had been training the his squad over the course of the summer, and was pleased to have landed his number one target.

He told the Tele: “I’m delighted to have been able to bring Jack to the club.

“It was key and pretty obvious that we had to get a senior goalkeeper.

“We had to wait a wee bit longer in that sense because Jack had gone to Northern Ireland with Kilmarnock for their pre-season trip and that meant we had to wait that week longer to bring him in, but we’re delighted to eventually have it over the line.

“We’re happy to have him on board because we’ve got ourselves a very good goalkeeper – that’s the most important thing.

“We had a couple of trialists in who really didn’t do a lot wrong over their time at the club but we were just waiting to see if Jack would become available.

“We spoke to him a couple of times before we agreed to bring him in and I was very impressed with the way that he not only conducted himself but also his business, so we’re very happy to have him on board going forward and I’m looking forward to working with him.

“I think it’s pretty significant getting someone like Jack in, who will be great to have working with Chris Wylie, who’s a bit unlucky with the situation that he’s found himself in.

“We felt that it was important to give him half an hour against Cumbernauld Colts on Tuesday night as to make him feel a part of things and he’ll be the back-up 'keeper for now.

“It’s a good experience for him to be learning his trade off of someone with the experience of Jack."

MacPherson is pleased to come through the pre-season campaign unscathed as his side managed to avoid any injuries in their 2-0 win over Lowland League outfit Cumbernauld Colts, with Michael Garrity and Cameron Blues getting on the scoresheet.

The Ton boss says the comfortable victory at Broadwood was ideal preparation for Saturday's opening Premier Sports Cup group game at Stranraer.

He added: “The most important thing for us was that we avoided any injuries and we’ve managed to do that again.

“We’re reasonably happy with how the three games have gone but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any room for improvement.

“We now need to turn our attentions to the cup games starting on Saturday in what will be a tough game against Stranraer.

“We know where we’re at and we know what is required across the three games.”