DEREK Gaston has admitted it was ‘mentally tough being a spectator’ after he was ousted as Morton’s number one goalkeeper by Ryan Scully.

Gaston made his first league start of the campaign for the Ton in their 2-1 win over Queen of the South on Tuesday.

The shotstopper has been the number one choice at Cappielow for most of the time during his seven seasons at the Greenock club.

But Scully recently took over as the Ton’s first choice goalkeeper, making 13 appearances so far this term.

The 31-year-old Gaston missed the start of pre-season with a broken wrist and has had to wait patiently on the sidelines for his chance.

It finally came on Tuesday, and he was a relieved man when he got the chance to pull on the gloves again for Morton.
He told the Tele: “The long journeys have been when it’s really tough for me. 

“I said at the start of the month this will be really tough mentally for myself. We had trips up to Ross County and Inverness and as a goalkeeper you’re travelling up to the game and you’re basically a spectator on the bench.

“I’ve been working really hard since I’ve been back. I obviously missed the start of pre-season with an injury and I’ve been playing a lot of the reserve games in the last few weeks.

“I feel like I’ve been doing really well for them, and that’s all you’ve got to keep doing. 

“You’ve just got to keep working hard and keep trying to make the manager have a decision to make.

“Ryan’s not done too much wrong, he’s obviously conceded a few goals in the last month and the gaffer has decided to change it.

“But on a personal level I just need to keep working hard and try to catch the manager’s eye so if a chance did arise he would put me in and he felt comfortable enough to put me in and we’ve won the match.”

Gaston has been working hard with the reserves during the week, and has been eager to work his way back to the first team.

With manager Jonatan Johansson taking an active interest and attending most of the club’s second string games, it has been an extra motivator for the ex-Albion Rovers player.

He added: “I’ve been fortunate enough over the years that I’ve not had spells on the bench being second choice, it’s been quite a learning experience for himself.

“There have been a few games in the reserves where I’ve been quite busy, and the manager turns up with the assistant manager and they turn up to most, if not all, the reserve games.

“They’ve come for the friendly games as well, we’ve played against St Mirren and Rangers in closed-door friendlies.

“It gives you an incentive knowing that the manager is watching you, and you know if you’re doing really well in the reserves you might catch his eye.”