DAVID Hopkin has challenged his players to finish the job and reach the knockout stages of the Betfred Cup.

Morton go into Saturday’s showdown with Queen of the South full of confidence following Tuesday’s resounding 5-0 win over Annan Athletic.

Braces from Aidan Nesbitt and Nicky Cadden and Robbie Muirhead’s late strike secured three points and moved them into second place in Group E.

Hopkin, inset, now has his sights set on the last 16 and a win over the Doonhamers tomorrow should see Ton qualify as one of the four best runners-up. 

He told the Tele: “I’m delighted to get another win and to have two out of three in the group.

“We want to qualify from the group.

“I’m delighted that we’ve got two wins out of the three in a tough group section with two other full-time teams in there.

“We always knew that Motherwell would be tough, especially when you only have one centre back, so we changed the team a bit and had John [Sutton] and Bob [McHugh] up top and they gave us a focal point to go and play on a very tight pitch.

“To go there and score five is a great achievement because second half I think we took our chances and they really tested us.

“I thought it was a very good game. They put balls in our box, they tested the keeper and they made us work.

“It was just that bit of quality of the fitness in the legs coming on and we managed to stretch the game.

“I stressed to the players before the game that a lot of premier league teams have gone down there in years gone by and struggled because they are a very good and well organised team.”

Hopkin was also pleased with how his strikers performed against the League Two outfit, with Muirhead grabbing his first goal for the club and Sutton and McHugh linking up well on their first outing together.

Hopkin believes the duo will only improve in the coming weeks.

He said: “Having both John and Bob up front definitely gives us a different option going forward.

“Bob has been a wee bit behind, he missed ten days of pre-season training and I think it’s shown.

“To be fair in the last three or four days he’s started to look sharper and I think it was important to get him 90 minutes.

“I just wish he could’ve got a goal to top it off. I thought his hold-up and link-up play were brilliant against two very good centre backs at this level.

“It’s important that Robbie got his goal, I think he’s got huge potential, he’s a huge talent. He’s came back in and saw Bob and John in ahead of him leaving him on the bench, so I think he came on against Annan with the bit between his teeth. To come on and score will give him great confidence.

“It was a great finish for him.

“We need to keep going because we’re still two or three players short of having a finished squad, but the players are starting to understand what I’m wanting from them.”