THOMAS O’Ware has agreed a two-year contract extension that will tie him to Morton until the summer of 2018, the Tele can exclusively reveal.

Utility man O’Ware, who has made 126 appearances over the course of his five seasons with the club, is one of 12 players out of contract next month.

But Ton’s longest-serving player has come to terms on a new deal with manager Jim Duffy and chairman Douglas Rae and all that is left now is for the paperwork to be signed.

Speaking exclusively to Telegraph Sport, the 23-year-old said: “I’ve agreed a two-year contract and have just got to sign it now.

“I agreed a contract with the gaffer last week so I’m just waiting on Gillian [Donaldson] getting the paperwork done.

“I’m excited to have another two years — it’s my first two-year deal — and I’m happy to stay and learn more under the gaffer. He’s been a big help for me; he’s taught me a lot, and obviously there’s a lot more to learn.

“I was offered a one and a two-year deal, but I think two years is the right length.

"After that finishes I’ll be 25 and hopefully will have no injuries and play in most games in that time. I’m looking forward to competing more in this league and learning more and then hopefully maybe move on in the future.”

O’Ware hopes to see more of his current team-mates signed up in the coming weeks for another crack at the Championship next term.

He added: “Obviously there will be a lot of players going out with the boys on loan returning to their clubs.

“But again hopefully we can keep a good core of the team. If we can try and add to it and improve it then we should have a chance of doing well again.”

O’Ware was speaking after Saturday’s admirable goalless draw with Hibs, and he insisted it was a performance that was inspired by the disappointment of the derby defeat to St Mirren.

He said: “You could see with the performance that everybody’s put a full shift in. Last week obviously annoyed us a wee bit — we let ourselves down.

“We mentioned in the team talk that we let ourselves down last week, that we weren’t at the races, and obviously it was important to come out and put on a performance.

“It was about cutting out the mistakes and working them hard and pressing them. We weren’t sure which shape they would play, because they change it, but we adapted well.

“I thought everybody was outstanding — I don’t think anybody put a foot wrong — and it was a good response to last week.

“Obviously a win would have been nice and I thought we were the better team if I’m being honest. They obviously had better possession, but chance-wise I thought we had the better of it. We broke on the counter and contained them well. I don’t think Gats [Derek Gaston] had a real save to make.”

The former youth academy player was deployed as a sitting midfielder against Alan Stubbs’ side and was a key performer as the Ton picked up a point.

O’Ware regularly came out on top in battles with midfielder such as Liam Henderson and Fraser Fyvie, and he admitted to enjoying mixing it with that sort of company in the engine room.

He explained: “I prefer playing in there with Lee [Kilday] and Luca [Gasparotto] behind me. I think when you look at the games the three of us have played, we’ve done well defensively.

“It’s been harder to break down. But obviously with the injuries this year, I’ve had to go back one at times. But no, it’s a good challenge playing against Henderson and John McGinn, and I felt I stood up for 
myself.”