EMERGENCY loanee Scott Fox admits it was a strange feeling being back in between the sticks for the first time in 14 months after answering Morton's SOS call ahead of their play-off crunch against Airdrie.

The 33-year-old ex-Partick Thistle and Ross County stopper came in at short notice from Motherwell to provide cover in the absence of Aidan McAdams, who injured his hamstring in the play-off semi-final victory over Montrose.

Fox was delighted to help Ton secure a crucial 1-0 first-leg win over the Diamonds and is relishing being involved in the Greenock club's two biggest games of the season after a campaign spent on the sidelines with a long-term knee injury.

He told the Tele: “It was just a weird feeling being out there. Because I’ve been training every day and coming back, there is a psychological factor involved.

“Obviously there’s a lot of risks, but I wanted to prove that I was fit and the only way that you can do that is by playing games and thankfully I have got the opportunity to do that.

“I think that that’s 14 months since my last game, which will have been a 1-1 draw at Firhill against Dunfermline, so it was nice to be back.

“To come back and get a clean sheet was brilliant as well, despite not having a lot to really do in the game, which I’d take all day.

“To be fair I got a call last week because I knew Aidan was struggling with his hamstring and I immediately jumped at the chance to play games. I didn’t have to think twice about it.

“Obviously Motherwell had it in their plans to get me to play games but that wasn’t going to be until the start of next season, so I ended up just coming down after Gus [MacPherson] spoke to me and hopefully I can do just that now, play games.

“It’s a tough situation to come into but you’ve got to take it in your stride.

“You’re normally in together anyway so I spent maybe an hour-and-a-half in training with the boys on Monday and I trained well.

“Everybody just looks after themselves as well, so I’m back in the fold which is only a positive thing.”

Despite Fox being on the end of some stick from the Airdrie supporters on Tuesday, the Motherwell man is delighted that his return to action has coincided with fans being allowed back into stadiums.

He added: “I think I’ve been one of the lucky ones who haven’t had to experience having to play without fans. Despite the stick I got from the Airdrie fans the other night – I’ve timed it all perfectly!

“Don’t get me wrong, sitting and watching with no fans was tough, so I can't imagine what it was like playing without them.

“They were waving to me at the end and trying to say no hard feelings, it was great.

“It’s all come together at the right time, I’m back and the fans are back in – happy days!”