MORTON manager Jonatan Johansson refused to be drawn on speculation linking Ian Durrant with the club’s assistant manager vacancy.

Durrant has been heavily linked with the post.

The 51-year-old, a former Rangers team-mate of Johansson, is the current assistant to ex-Ton midfielder Stevie Aitken at League One side Dumbarton.

Prior to his time at the Sons he was a first team coach under Walter Smith and Ally McCoist at Rangers, and became under-20s boss after McCoist’s tenure as Ibrox manager ended in 2014.

Johansson, who was installed as Morton manager last week, said the process was ongoing to find a number two.

He told the Tele: “I’m not going to discuss anybody. 

“These things have to be done professionally.

“We’ve seen that this season in many cases, and I would never discuss this as people have trust in me as it’s something I need to decide and it needs to be the right and important choice for the club and the players.

“There’s a lot of responsibility with this process so I will never discuss it.

“The process to find an assistant started as soon as I started at the club.

“It’s not always straight forward and I’m very confident that I am capable of doing it in the meantime.

“I want an assistant in place as soon as possible, but these things sometimes take me a little bit of time.”