CHRIS Millar says that he was gutted he couldn’t get the chance to say a proper goodbye to the Morton fans after his East Kilbride side lost at an empty Cappielow.

The midfield veteran was looking forward to playing in front of the Sinclair Street faithful for a final time after his new club were paired with Ton in Group G in the Premier Sports Cup.

But his hopes of an making an emotional farewell were dashed after the Morton had to play the match behind closed doors due to coronavirus issues.

Now Millar hopes that fans can be welcomed back to Cappielow as soon as possible.

He told the Tele: “It was disappointing not to have any fans in and be able to say my goodbyes, but the club have obviously had to make the decision not to open the stadium with the coronavirus situation.

“I’d have loved to have seen the fans back in and been able to say hello to some old faces, but it’s not to be and I just hope that the club can get everything sorted because it’s not right seeing Cappielow empty.

“Hopefully they can welcome fans back in sooner rather than later, but this is just the position we find ourselves in just now."

Millar was denied a dream goal to put East Kilbride ahead on his return to Cappielow by Ton 'keeper Jack Hamilton.

He said: “I thought we could’ve had a penalty in the second half when I managed to get forward and get a shot away, but the referee played the advantage.

"To be fair Jack Hamilton made a really good double save right in the corner and then to follow it up from Jamie Stevenson’s effort too.

“It would’ve been nice to have scored back at Cappielow, but I was off balance and couldn’t pull it back across goal, so I had to try and bend it into the bottom corner.

“It would’ve been nice had that gone in if the fans were there too.

“It was a difficult build-up for everyone going into the game and I’m really glad that it did go ahead."

Millar believes that the future looks bright for Ton's youth academy and the 38-year-old challenged the youngsters to grasp their opportunities and push for a run in Gus MacPherson’s first team.

He added: "Obviously Morton were badly effected going into things with seven or eight first team players out.

“The kids had to come in and I thought they did really well.

“I was really impressed with Michael Garrity, who made a positive impact going forward with the ball. He’ll excite fans because he’s one of these players who wants to take the ball forward and take players on.

“He was one who I thought would really benefit from his loan at St Cadoc's last season, so it’ll be a big year for him.

"I was really impressed with Alex King and Lewis McGregor who held their own.

“When young players come into the first team you want them to really go and express themselves and I feel like they did just that.

“They didn’t hide on the ball even if they lost it, they kept on wanting it and trying to make things happen.

“When opportunities like this present themselves, you’ve got to take them. It’s important to get that confidence to go and play at that level.

“With the way the squad is shaping up just now at Morton it’s not going to be 21 first team experienced players – it’s going to be lighter numbers and it’s an opportunity to stake their place in the team going forward."