KYLE Jacobs insists Morton can make a statement of intent with a win against Alloa today in the Championship opener at Cappielow.

The midfielder hopes that the Ton’s impressive league form, which saw them lose just once since the turn of the year, can carry over into this season.

He believes that it's crucial Ton put down a marker against the Wasps and says the never-say-die attitude instilled in them by manager David Hopkin will be a huge factor this term.

He told the Tele: “I’m really looking forward to getting the league started after what feels like an age.

“It’s obviously going to be a tough test against a good team who like to pass the ball as much as they can, so I’m sure it’s one that we’re all looking forward to.

“If we can get a good result against them then it’ll send a strong statement out to the rest of the league and that’s something that we’ve spoken about. We need to make a good start.

“I think we played them in our first home game last season as well and we did really well to win the game, so hopefully we can do the same this time around.

“If we can replicate that sort of performance then we should get ourselves off to a good positive start in the league.

“If we can keep doing what we’ve been doing then I don’t think there’s any reason why we can't go and win the game.

“We’ve only been beaten once in the league since New Year and even since we’ve come back we’ve not lost either.

“It’s something that we want to do well in and keep this run going as long as we can, even if there’s been a six-month gap between games.

“If you look at where we were this time last year, we weren’t in as good a position as we were still getting used to each other.

“The gaffer has managed to install that strong mentality into the group and hopefully we can keep the run going for as long as possible.”

The all action midfielder believes that the Ton have set themselves up nicely for their clash with the Clackmannanshire outfit with a draw and a win in their two Betfred Cup games against Queen of the South and Queen's Park.

He said: “Obviously the two games were a bit different with two different sides playing, but it was a good run out for a lot of the boys.

“That could work well for us this season because we’ve got a good big squad here, so there’s going to be competition for places and people are going to be kept on their toes.

“That can only be a good thing for us going forward.

“The squad is quite young as well, so the younger boys are going to be keen to push the older ones all the way and prove themselves to the manager.”