NEW Morton signing Jamie Brandon says he hopes to make the most of the second chance handed to him by Dougie Imrie after making his first appearance in over a year.

The right-back spent 377 days on the sidelines with a ruptured cruciate knee ligament and he admits that making his Ton debut in Saturday's 2-0 win over Ayr United was a significant moment in his career.

Brandon, who arrived at Cappielow on loan from Hearts last week, believes his experience of playing at Tynecastle can help Morton in their survival battle this season.

He told the Tele: “I was delighted to have managed to make my debut and to have made the first steps in coming back.

“The fact that the gaffer had no qualms about throwing me in right from the off has given me a bit of confidence and hopefully it’s just the start for me.

“It is a long time not have played a game and hopefully that’s the end of the serious injuries for me and I am going to make the most of this second chance handed to me here.

“The last time I played a game was on January 2 against Dundee last year, so I didn’t know what options were going to be out there for me, so I'm grateful that I've been given a chance on loan here at Morton.

“After being out for so long, you really begin to appreciate when you’re back fit and making the most of it and that’s what I intend to do here.

“I’ve been back in training for the last three months and I've been doing all my pre-hab in the mornings and everything necessary so that I have the best possible chance of staying as fit as I can.

“With the injury, it’s been nice to see the boys at Hearts doing so well and the standards that they’ve set have been so good in the first part of the season.

“I just hope that I can bring some of that to Morton and we can experience similar levels of success.”

Brandon says he's grateful to be back in a normal routine after a difficult road to recovery which included undergoing surgery for a second time in his career.

The 23-year-old is relieved to put his injury ordeal behind him and he is now focused on helping Morton climb the table.

He added: “It’s been good to get back to a bit of normality after spending such a long time out.

"It feels good to be able to train from Monday to Friday again.

“It’s been a long journey back and it was a tough road to get there with the operations that I had on both knees, but they’re all good now so hopefully it will be worth it in the end as I start to feel my way back into things.

“Morton is the perfect place for me, so hopefully I can help them get up the table by performing well for them.”