KYLE Jacobs has backed marksman Robbie Muirhead to be a lethal force up front for Morton this season.

The new Ton captain believes that fans will see the best of ex-Dundee United man Muirhead now that he is being utilised as a striker by manager Gus MacPherson.

The 25-year-old bagged his first two goals of the season in the Premier Sports Cup win over Clyde at the weekend and Jacobs expects Muirhead to cause Championship defences plenty of problems this season.

He told the Tele: “We’re a tight bunch who want what’s best for the club before anything else and we were delighted for Robbie for getting two goals and trying to kick on from the end of last season.

“I think he was hard done by being played out of position for a lot of the last two years and he’s shown when he’s played as a striker just how big a threat that he can be.

“He ended up scoring five or six goals in the last two months of the season last time out, so his confidence is high.

“He knows where the goal is and he does it every day in training as well.

“He’s a hard worker, which people sometimes don’t see, and he needs confidence as well, which he has in abundance just now.

“It was good to see him get off the mark and ultimately if he’s firing it’s good for the team as well.

“It's unbelievable what big Gozie [Ugwu] does for the team up top as well.

“He brings players in and complements Robbie as well in the way that he plays, so we’re looking good ahead of the new season."

Jacobs says that the camaraderie in the dressing room has carried over from last season and that the close knit bond between the players will be a huge advantage this term.

He said: “Despite there being so many players to have left the club over the summer, that character and togetherness is still there and stronger than ever which can only be a good thing.

“We’ve shown the character that we have in the dressing room over the course of pre-season with everything that’s gone on and we’re running with a smaller squad this year as it is.

“Hopefully we can add a few more players because we’ve got a good core of players where they’ve played well and that gives us a lot of confidence going into the Dunfermline game on Saturday.

“We’ve got good players who are a threat, which I hope the fans can see as well because we are trying to be solid at the back, but we do want to add more goals because ultimately goals win you games.

“It’s good to see boys scoring and assisting, so hopefully this is the start of something.”

Jacobs was involved in a clash of heads with team-mate Brian McLean during Saturday's victory against the Bully Wee which resulted in the defender being taken to hospital in an ambulance.

The midfielder admits that it was tough coming back out to play in the second half without the veteran centre-half but he was relieved to hear that he managed to get home on Saturday night.

He added: “I think I just caught Brian on a bad bit of his head, it was totally innocuous.

“It didn’t look great, but he was conscious before leaving the ground, which is positive, and has been discharged from the hospital.

“It was hard to come back out and play the second half because he plays quite a big part in the dressing room, he’s one of the big characters in there.

“Michael Ledger has come in and done well with big Al [Lithgow] and we’ve got players who can help out too, so it’s good that he can take the time he needs to get back.

“Hopefully it’s good news that he’s home and recovering, and he’ll be back soon.”