MORTON’S assistant manager Anton McElhone hopes to have most of the squad in place when pre-season begins tomorrow.

After signing Aidan Nesbitt earlier this week the Ton now have 14 first-team players signed up, with the manager previously telling the Tele he wanted a squad of 18-20.

With most clubs returning from their summer breaks this week and next, players are keen to get their futures sorted soon.

But McElhone says that won’t budge Morton’s budget or affect them, saying they have kept within their limits as they look to overhaul the Cappielow outfit.

He told the Tele: “With the market in Scotland, a lot of teams are returning to pre-season either this week or next week, so there’s a lot of players that are wanting to get themselves tied down.

“As a club we’ve set out what we can pay, it’s not huge money but it’s still a good wage, and players know what to expect from a contract at our club.

“Players will come over the next few days and weeks, but it will be down to what we can afford, rather than splashing the cash.

“I think a lot of the teams out there are paying lots of money and I don’t know how sustainable it is.

“You would like to think we would have sorted out some more defenders in the next few weeks.

“We’re not finished, but we’re not far off. Most of the pieces should be in place when we return to pre-season on Thursday.”

l Meanwhile, former Morton midfielder Charlie Telfer completed a move to Falkirk yesterday.