GUS MacPherson has today admitted that it is unlikely that there will be anymore fresh faces in through the door before Dunfermline visit Cappielow tomorrow.

The club have signed Alan Lithgow, Mark Russell, Jack Hamilton and Gozie Ugwu but the Morton boss says he's still short with 13 leaving the club over the summer a day before the Championship campaign kicks off.

He revealed that he is keen to bring in the right players and not rush his approach at a time where the transfer window has cooled down.

He told the Tele: “There’s no denying that the players we have in just now need help and we do know who we want to bring in but it’s unlikely that there will be any in before the Dunfermline game.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t work that way and there’s already been a few scenarios like that this summer.

“There isn’t a large pool of players out there just now who have suddenly just become free agents and have become available or who can play at a Championship level.

“I keep reading that there are a few clubs who are in the same position, so you’ve got to make sure that you do your homework and due diligence to try and make sure that you eradicate as many errors as you possibly can.”

With a smaller pool of players at his disposal, MacPherson has told his players that he will reply on this whole squad this season.

He added: "The players know that there is an opportunity here to go and stake a claim for themselves, they’ve received good game time during the Premier Sports Cup and even the couple of friendlies beforehand.

“Certainly because of the numbers as well as the fact that we’ve stressed the second we’ve walked through the door that we’d be working with a tighter squad that everybody would need to be ready and available because they will get an opportunity during the stages of the season.

"It might not be in August or September but it will be in November or December periods but we do need more players.

“The players have shown over the course of the Premier Cup Group as well as the friendlies that they are a good group of players but they need help."

MacPherson has urged his players to grasp the winning mentality with both hands ahead of tomorrow’s opener against the Pars at Cappielow as he looks to get off to the best possible start against one of the favourites for the league tomorrow afternoon.

The Ton manager believes that it will be one of the most competitive leagues for some time as he called for his players to match their performance against Kilmarnock on a weekly basis as players look to seize their opportunity.

He told the Tele: “You’ll hear all sorts of things ranging from the spirit is good to everything about the camp is good, but ultimately the best thing for team building criteria is winning games and that’s what we want to do here.

“That’s what we’ve got to strive to do and it will be extremely tough with some really strong teams in the Championship this year so it’s going to be tough but that’s the most important ingredient for increasing not only the team, but club morale.

“Pre-season has gone relatively well, so this is the big one in the League starting now and we’ve got to be ready for it ahead of a tough test against Dunfermline tomorrow.

“They’ve recruited significantly in the Summer and continue to do that so it’s a benchmark for us despite it being the first game.

“People will be wanting to see where we’re at and especially after our performance against Kilmarnock which we were happy with, we set ourselves a benchmark there and we need to follow up on that.

“We’ve been a wee bit disrupted with the training and the games that we’ve missed but there’s nothing we can do now but play the games.

“Without a doubt it is going to be the most competitive Championship in a long time, there’s no question of that.

“What we’ve got to do is to make sure that we remain competitive and improve on last season’s position and performances, that’s all we can do as a team and as a club in general."