FORMER Morton kid Ruaridh Langan believes he is flourishing as a footballer now that he has been reunited with former boss Jim Duffy at Dumbarton.

The 22-year-old local lad came through the Ton youth academy, captaining the successful reserve side before moving on last summer to sign with the Sons after a short stint at Falkirk.

He's just agreed a new one-year-deal with the League One outfit after enjoying his breakthrough senior season across the water.

Langan feels he couldn’t have had a better inaugural season as a first team player, after establishing himself as a regular and making almost 30 appearances.

He said: “I couldn’t be happier to sign a new deal at Dumbarton and to continue working under Jim Duffy too.

“He’s the reason that I had signed for Dumbarton in the first place, because he’s had such an impact on my career.

"Jim is great to work for and always honest with me and that’s all you can ask for.

"Obviously he had a health scare just recently but it’s great that he’s still keen to be involved in football and is back on the mend."

Langan says he relished the chance to finally show what he can do last term after sitting on the sidelines at the outset of his career.

He told the Tele: “I was on the bench a lot at Morton but never got an opportunity to have a run in the team really.

"Last season was my first proper one as a senior player.

“I was thrown in at the deep end in a way, but I can only learn from it and improve.

“I had a really good season and I enjoyed it.

"If you were to say to me this time last year I’d be playing 28 league games, playing at Pittodrie against Aberdeen in front of nearly 10,000 fans in the Scottish Cup, I’d have bitten your hand off for that.

“It was quite a big adjustment to make, going from reserve to men’s football but I’ve really enjoyed it and it couldn’t have gone any better for me, and I scored my first goal as well.

“It was a big step up, maybe not in terms of the quality but in terms of the mental aspect of playing because you’ve got team-mates playing for win bonuses and there’s obviously promotion and relegation to consider too.

“It’s a season I’ll never forget."

The 22-year-old is also grateful he has the chance to work under former Ton number two Craig McPherson once again.

He said: “I’ve known Jim Duffy since I was coming through the youth system at Morton and both him and Craig have been great with me the full way through my career so far.

“Craig coached me for a wee bit when I was in the reserves at Morton.

"I’ve known them both for the best part of a decade, so to keep working with them has been a big thing for me.

“The fact that they believe in me and have shown that confidence in me has helped me greatly too."

League One is shaping up to be very competitive in the coming campaign with the likes of Falkirk and Partick looking for promotion back to the Championship.

But Langan feels his side could be in the mix too.

He said: “If we can try and apply ourselves in the same way that we did last season, there’s no reason why Dumbarton can’t have another successful season – even with some big teams in the league.”