MORTON manager David Hopkin admitted he has to move on after missing out on re-signing Michael Tidser.

The midfielder was a star man for the Ton last season, scoring eight goals in 37 appearances, but followed former Ton boss Ray McKinnon to Falkirk.

Tidser had agreed a pre-contract with Falkirk in January but his future became uncertain because of a clause that allowed the deal to be scrapped if Falkirk went down.

The 29-year-old is believed to have held talks with Partick Thistle last week and had an offer on the table from Dundee.

But yesterday he confirmed a two-year deal with Falkirk – with fellow former Morton players Gregor Buchanan and Charlie Telfer expected to follow him to the Falkirk Stadium.

Hopkin says Ton had offered Tidser a contract before he joined as manager.

He met with the players shortly after joining the Cappielow outfit last month, but admits after not hearing back from the midfielder he had started to look elsewhere. 

He told the Tele: “Michael was offered a contract by the club before I arrived, and I think it was a good offer from the board.

“I had spoken to Michael when I first came into the job and he had things to mull over and a decision to make around what he wanted to do.

“He’s been a fantastic player and in an ideal world I would have liked him to stay.

“But when you don’t hear back and the longer it goes on then you know he’s probably going to move on somewhere else and that’s how it has turned out. You just need to move on.”