MORTON hero Marko Rajamaki has urged fellow Finn and current Cappielow loan star Jaakko Oksanen to extend his stay at the club.

Rajamaki, who last week declared his interest in Ton's managerial vacancy, believes the Brentford midfielder should remain in Inverclyde for the rest of the season as it would be the best way for him to continue his development.

The ex-Morton winger coached Oksanen for his country at the under-19 European Championships in 2018 and is sure he has a bright future in the game.

His loan from the Bees is due to expire at the end of the year and it's understood Morton would be keen to extend that until next May, but there may be other interest.

Rajamaki told the Tele that he hopes the 21-year-old will stay put and continue to get games under his belt in Greenock.

He said: “This is a good loan for Jaakko, to be in Greenock and one of the main players in a team at this stage of his career so early on.

"Hopefully he can use this opportunity to its maximum and stay beyond January before he goes back to Brentford, who are doing well in the English Premier League, and make a name for himself there.

“I’ve known him since he was a boy, as I was lucky enough to be in the coaching staff at the U19 Euros which was held in Finland.

"England, Italy and Portugal - who had Jota playing who is with Celtic now - were all involved in the tournament.

“Jaakko was in our squad even though it was for boys born in 1999 and he was born the year after.

“He was that good that he could make the team and start even though he is a year younger.

“Jaakko has got a big future in the game, I have no doubt about it.

“He’s a solid midfield player with a good left foot, one of the best I've seen for someone his age.

"He needs first team football and Cappielow is the best place for him to do this.

“There’s nowhere better to learn than playing in front of the Cowshed, that’s memories that last with you until the day you take your last breath.”

Rajamaki hopes that he could again work with the young midfielder if his pitch for the Ton hotseat pays off.

He hopes to be interviewed for the Ton job and says it would be a huge honour to come back and manage his former side.

The fans' favourite said: “It would be a very proud moment for me if I was to come back and manage the club and help restore them to where they once were.

“You can see that the league is really tight, there’s no team that is out of the woods in the bottom four or five and only a few points separating them all.

“It’s really tight, so you need to be thinking short term as well as long.

“Whoever comes in and gets the role needs to hit the ground running and take advantage of the tightness of everything before it’s too late and someone finds themselves cut adrift.

“Once they sort that out that’s when they look to see what the long term is going to be."