MORTON captain Jim McAlister has issued a rallying cry urging his team-mates to bounce back from their 6-0 mauling at the hands of league leaders Dundee United.

McAlister says there was no excuse for Ton’s shambolic start which saw them 2-0 down after five minutes.

The skipper has now called on his team-mates to show their strength as they look to bounce back on Saturday when Dunfermline visit Cappielow in what he believes will be a real test of the young squad’s character.

He told the Tele: “There’s absolutely no excuses for the way we started.

“You’d play tomorrow if you had the opportunity because it’s sickening coming off the back of results like that.

“It puts a bit of emphasis on the game against Dunfermline because it’s important to bounce back.

“It’s a good fixture for us being at home and it allows us to show the character in the dressing room that has been well documented and turn it into a positive result.

“We came to Tannadice last year and we took the sting out the game, we scored early on and frustrated them. 

“We had spoken about it in training — if you take the crowd and the momentum out of an opponent you’ve got a chance.”