MORTON chief executive Chris Ross has revealed that the club has drawn up its own list of targets as it searches for a new manager.

Ton are looking for a new boss after axing Gus MacPherson earlier this month and a whole host of candidates have thrown their hat into the ring after the position was advertised.

Dougie Imrie, Brian Rice, Marko Rajamaki, Darren Young, Kevin Rutkiewicz and Kenny Miller have all been linked with the post and applications closed yesterday.

Ross says that Ton will now combine the long list of applicants with their own, then finalise a shortlist.

The Greenock men have slumped to the bottom of the league and now face a hectic festive fixture schedule of crucial fixtures, but Ross says the club must take its time to get the right candidate for the job.

He told the Tele: “We’ll spend the next few weeks making sure that we get the process right.

“Our focus last week was making sure that we had put the call out to make sure that any potential managers had the chance to apply for the role.

“It also gave us a chance to come up with our own list, which we have been working on.

"When all of that comes together, we can really get the wheels in motion and have a new manager in post before the turn of the year.

“I think that the list will start off quite big, due to the nature of the recruitment process that we want to undertake.

"Once we get serious about a select few it’ll shorten down so that we can focus on those targets."

The new boss hunt is the first big test of Ross's reign as chief executive, having been recently promoted from his part-time general manager post and he is relishing the challenge.

He told the Tele: “The club wanted me originally to be the general manager of the club back in the summer and they quickly realised that they wanted someone in on a full-time basis.

“It worked for me due to my personal circumstances and now it’s seen me come in and take a bit more responsibility in and around the club and the day to day action.”

Ross says he is enjoying having a more hands-on approach on the daily running of the club.

He said: “Maybe under the general manager’s position I had to run things past the board.

"Now there’s a little bit more onus on myself to just go on and get on with things.

“There’s a real focus on running things day to day, supporting the manager, the ticketing staff and hospitality as best as I can.

“It’s been the perfect timeframe for me, because I've spent the first kind of couple of months looking at what I can do to put my stamp on things.

"We’ve had a look to see what we can do and now it’s about ramping it up.

“We’ve gone back to the basics and it’s now about doing these better.”