GUS MacPherson has backed Jaakko Oksanen to follow in the footsteps of Morton's former Finnish heroes Janne Lindberg and Marko Rajamaki and become a fans' favourite at Cappielow.

The Nordic duo were cult heroes in the 1990s and the Ton manager hopes the Brentford loanee, who joined the club on deadline day last week, can be as popular as his fellow Finns.

MacPherson has been impressed with the attitude of the 20-year-old after he withdrew from international duty to get started at Cappielow early.

He told the Tele: “I don’t know whether Jaakko is aware of the high standing that Finnish players of the past hold at the club, but I’m sure that he will come to get to know it.

“He was due to be going away with the Finnish Under-21 national team and asked to withdraw so that he could get his club football sorted, which speaks volumes of him, so I’m sure that he’ll have no problem settling in.

“I’m sure that the fans will accept him and remind him of the Finnish players of the past and I’m sure he’ll be keen to hear all about it too.

“He’s had good experience in Brentford’s B team and then he was out on loan at AFC Wimbledon at a good level in League One last season, so it’s a good signing and we’re looking forward to working with him going forward."

Newcastle United loanee Tom Allan made his debut against Celtic B on Saturday and fellow Toon youngster Oisin McEntee is due to join his new Ton team-mates today following his international duty with Ireland Under-21s.

MacPherson said: “Oisin is coming into the group with a good pedigree behind him.

“I’ve known of him for some time now. The move had been ongoing for a while and it had chopped and changed a good bit throughout the window as to whether it was going to happen or not.

“It was frustrating to say the least but all in all I think that in a situation like this, we’ve got to be really thankful and grateful to Newcastle for trusting us to develop and help Oisin and Tom in the next stages of their career.

“It’s his first loan and a first taste of men’s football, so we’re very grateful to the club and it was enjoyable dealing with the likes of Shola Ameobi, who’s their loans co-ordinators, despite it being frustrating at times."

MacPherson says he is delighted to add players of high quality to his squad and believes it’s a sign of things to come.

He added: “We weren’t in a position to dictate things in regards to these moves.

“We’re grateful to both Brentford and Newcastle for allowing them to happen.

“We’ve brought some players in of a very high pedigree and I hope that it’s a sign of things to come.

“We’ve got to thank a lot of people for their assistance as well as the people in charge of the club for helping make them possible.”