JOE McKee says his second half performance against Airdrie on Saturday is the standard he must aspire to if he is to put his stamp on Morton’s season.

The former Livingston, Burnley and Bolton midfielder’s football upbringing instilled in him an instinct to always look to retain possession.

But by his own admission, McKee feels he has to modify his game and take more risks in order to go and fully express himself in League One.

The 21-year-old did that against the Diamonds, playing a key role in both Ton goals, and is confident he can continue to unleash his full potential over the course of the campaign. McKee told the Tele: “We made it hard for ourselves with the goal. It’s a free-kick that hit the wall and landed for the boy who scored with a great strike. There wasn’t much we could do about that.

“But we weren’t playing well enough in the first half.

“Everybody said that to themselves at half-time and the gaffer said it too.

“He got us in at half-time and settled us down.

“He asked for more energy off the boys and for there to be more communication so everybody knew where to go.

“We tried a different formation and it didn’t work for us. It was a diamond in the middle but we were all over the place and we were sloppy.

“We changed it second half, and it was miles better.

“He went with a tight three in the middle with Jinky [Jamie McCluskey] on the right, and he gave us a bit of width.

“It was night and day.

“Personally, I was to get forward and try and influence the game a bit more instead of sitting deep. In the first half I was getting it and just passing it sideways.

“I’ve always been brought up to keep the ball. That’s the way I’ve always played. It’s hard to change just like that.

“I thought that in the second half on Saturday I definitely got the ball out from my feet and played some 40 to 50 yard passes and got a bit further forward myself.

“It’s something that’s in my game; it just needs to come out. I was involved in the two goals so I feel it did in the second half. I was happy with that.”