DYLAN Dykes is hoping he can pay Morton back by securing a play-off spot after he reached out to offer his services to the club.

The 22-year-old yesterday signed a six-month deal with the Ton, after spending the last two weeks on trial at Parklea.

The midfielder was a free agent after being released by Championship leaders Ross County at the end of last month.

He featured heavily for County’s reserve side this season, and impressed in the Staggies’ 5-1 win over their Morton counterparts at Cappielow last month.

The former Rangers youth product knew he was soon going to be released, and messaged Morton manager Jonatan Johansson, who had been watching the game, saying he was available in January.

The proactive approach has now paid off for Dykes.

He told the Tele: “It was a couple of weeks ago I spoke to him. I played down at Morton for the Ross County Reserves and my time was up with them, so I gave him a text just to let him know I was going to be available in January. He was interested after watching me in that game so he knows what I can do and it went from there.

“I knew I was going to be available so I just wanted to make sure teams knew. It’s good to have my future sorted.

“I just want to push for the final play-off spot now. We’re in a good position and we just need to keep the wins coming and see where that takes us.”

Dykes was left frustrated at County this season after featuring just twice for the Highland outfit this year.

He was part of the development team that won the league back in 2017, alongside his now-Morton team-mate Reghan Tumilty, and he also played with Charlie Telfer when the pair were progressing through the youth ranks at Rangers.

But the lack of first team action sparked his decision to leave, and Dykes hopes he can now go on to play as much as he can under Johansson.

He added: “I enjoyed my time up there, I was part of the squad that won the under-20s league and it was a good year.

“I got my debut in the Premiership and it was a good stepping-stone for me but now I want to push on and get more games under my belt at Morton and show what I can do.

“It was a good squad up at County, they have good experience and it was hard breaking into their first team.

“They’re a good bunch and the managers said that for my development it was best for me to go and play elsewhere and I agreed. Hopefully I can do that here.”

The midfielder can play across all positions in the middle of the park and is also able to fill in at right-back, which he hopes will work in his favour.

He added: “I can play anywhere forward or back, anywhere in the midfield will suit me.

“I’m quite versatile, and it works out for me if the manager wants to rotate the squad around.”