MORTON manager Jonatan Johansson praised his players’ character after they were nearly left stranded en-route to Balmoor before their Scottish Cup victory over Peterhead.

The Ton had to deal with an unexpected hitch after their bus broke down on the way up north, which delayed kick-off by 15 minutes.

And despite winds reaching speeds of over 50 miles per hour, the Ton managed to keep a clean sheet, with goals from Kerr Waddell, Robert Thomson and Chris Millar making it a good night for Johansson’s team.

Johansson told the Tele: “It was tough, I’m really proud of the players going up against a good team, the wind as well and our trip up wasn’t ideal.

“The character of our team showed in the second half against the wind and I thought we were really good.

“The bus broke down and we had a bit of a delay, the preparations weren’t ideal but it was out of our control.

“Credit to Peterhead, they were very good with their sportsmanship, they were very accommodating with us being late and the referees.

“These things happen but we didn’t know if we could get the bus fixed or not. It was important we kept calm.”

Morton made three changes from their 1-1 draw with the Blue Toon on Saturday, with the incoming trio all getting their names on the scoresheet.

It was Waddell’s first goal for the club, while Thomson, above, also netted for the first time in over a year.

After forward Gary Oliver was ruled out for up to two months with a broken collarbone this week, the ex-Dumbarton and Brechin City player took his opportunity well after making his comeback from injury.

Johansson was full of praise for both Thomson and his strike partner McHugh, who proved pivotal in two of the goals last night.

He added: “With Gary Oliver’s injury Robert Thomson got his chance. He’s been working extremely hard and I like to have the physicality on the pitch, as I knew it was going to be tough.

“Robert is very strong in the air, and I felt the strikers were great. I thought Bob was excellent and it was one of his best performances, he held the ball up well.

“It wasn’t easy because of the conditions, Bob was excellent for the third goal and to keep the defenders away, and they pushed us hard in our half. 

“At times they had a few chances and hit the post, we really had to dig out but to keep a clean sheet in these conditions was great.

“I said at half-time to forget the first half, as the second half would be totally different, two different games with two different sets of tactics.

“Thankfully we had that goal advantage, but the main thing in the second half was the character, and they showed that.”