MORTON captain Jim McAlister hopes his side continue to show their new-found resilience against Ross County today.

The Ton picked up their first win under new manager Jonatan Johansson against Falkirk, weathering some early pressure from the Bairns at Cappielow.

Ton gradually worked their way into the game, and in the end were able to seal the victory thanks to a Bob McHugh header after 76 minutes.

It was their second clean sheet of the league campaign following August’s 2-0 victory over Alloa Athletic.

For the skipper it was a particular relief to hold out for a win given their defensive record this year, conceding just twice in the first half of games, but 10 times in the second period in the Championship so far.

McAlister hopes they can continue doing that, with a tough trip to the Highlands today to take on league leaders Ross County.

He told the Tele: “You see it throughout football, the longer teams go without getting a result the more folk start talking about it, and it maybe transfers onto the pitch.

“I said before the season started it was important to get our wins at home and it was important to get a reaction after what happened against Ayr United as well.

“It’s a young squad, and young players can be vulnerable towards the end of games.

“We’ve conceded late on in some games and it’s important we enjoy keeping the ball out of our own net.

“Falkirk were always going to be fired up with the circumstances that have gone on before, he [Ray McKinnon] was always going to be wanting a reaction from his team.

“It was important we saw that out and we did, we limited them to very few chances, we were solid at the back and fortunately we had that wee bit of quality at the end to come up with the goods.”

The former Blackpool and Dundee midfielder was also relieved to hear the sound of the final whistle after a tough week recovering from illness.

McAlister has been suffering from a bacterial virus for almost the last two months.

He was coming to the tail end of the illness by Saturday, but admitted his energy levels and fitness had been dramatically affected.

The 32-year-old added: “I was digging in during the last 15 minutes. I was starting to get over the infection in my stomach.

“I had a good week training so it was important to start to build my energy levels and fitness levels back to where they were before.”

The Rothesay native also paid tribute to the Ton fans at the weekend.

He said: “They were brilliant. 

“As a player it’s always good to play when the atmosphere is hot and it gives you that wee bit extra, it makes you run that little bit harder. 

“The supporters were absolutely brilliant.

“They behaved themselves as well — there was lots of talk beforehand about what was going to happen — and that’s the most important thing.”