MORTON players held ‘clear the air’ talks following their heavy defeat to Inverness Caley Thistle.

Ton boss David Hopkin watched a recording of Friday’s defeat with his squad as he aims to steer things back on course for their return to the Highlands this Saturday.

Striker Bob McHugh admits the mood in the camp was low following the 5-0 hammering. 

However, he believes they can show their strength of character by progressing to the fourth round of the Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Cup this Saturday.

McHugh told the Tele: “It’s a hard one to take getting beaten like that. 

“It was a very long bus journey back down the road last week and you could tell everyone was disappointed, which has carried over the last few days which you could see coming into training.

“We had a wee team meeting to clear the air and the gaffer showed us where we went wrong. 

“The intensity has been good in training, so we’ll be looking to kick on this Saturday.

“We were just trying to see the first half through and go into half-time at 0-0 and then come out in the second half and be more expansive, then to concede the two goals the way we did either side of half-time just killed us.

“The timing of them wasn’t great, it left us chasing the game after that and we never really recovered.

“We tried to chase the game and get the ball back as quickly as possible and it left them being able to just pick us off.

“Everyone is really disappointed and we know we’re better than what we showed on Friday night. 

“We’re desperate to show that and we’ve got the best possible opportunity to do that playing Inverness away again. 

“We know it’ll be tough but it’s a chance for redemption.”

The striker admits it was an embarrassing result for the Ton and says there will be no complaints should any of last week’s team lose their place in the starting 11 for the return trip to Inverness.

He stressed the squad will be working hard to prove that they deserve another chance come kick-off this weekend.

He added: “It was embarrassing for us as players to be on the end of a scoreline like that, so we’ll be looking to go up and prove a point for ourselves as well as the fans, especially the ones who made the effort to travel up last week.

“I’d imagine the gaffer will make changes and we’ll get a better idea of what he’s looking to do later on in the week. 

“Obviously with it being a cup competition he might have been looking to make a few changes, but I think the boys who started on Friday night will be lucky to keep their place after getting beaten the way we did.

“We’ll be training hard to make sure that we can convince the gaffer that we deserve another go.

“This is a good chance to show just how much character that we’ve got as a dressing room. 

“We’ve done it against Hibs and Partick Thistle, but this is the time to show how much we have now.”