MORTON defender Oisin McEntee says he's relieved to put a nightmare five weeks on the treatment table behind him after returning to action from a broken hand.

The Irish youth cap has already overcome lengthy spells on the sideline due to illness and a double hip operation in recent years.

The Newcastle United loanee feels that his latest setback couldn’t have come at a worse time with the arrival of Dougie Imrie and the team's turnaround under the new Ton manager.

McEntee is now determined to make up for lost time and work his way back into first-team contention following a positive showing from the bench in the 2-1 Scottish Cup defeat against Motherwell at the weekend.

He told the Tele: “I’m delighted to be back playing, despite how things panned out on Saturday.

“When the gaffer came in, I was only just getting the operation on my hand and then I went back home for two weeks over Christmas because I wasn’t allowed to do anything with the stitches.

“It was frustrating, but it’s just another part of football that you need to deal with when it comes around.

“The timing of it all was a bit of a nightmare. It made it tougher for me but that’s the good thing in football, when the team’s doing well and you find yourself being out of the equation, which in this instance was due to injury, you just keep pushing them on and supporting the group because at the end of the day, it’s a results-driven business.

“I’m kind of used to being out injured now. I've had a few longer-term ones with a double hip operation and then I was out for four months last year with my heart, so it’s tough but you just need to try and ride the wave with it really.

“It’s just part and parcel of football, so I'm glad that I've been able to put it behind me now.

“I just had to work hard when I was back home and then had to work even harder when I came back over to try and get into the team, so it was good to get some minutes under my belt and back out onto the pitch against a really good side in Motherwell.

“Right wing-back wasn’t too familiar before the weekend but I’ll play anywhere in order to try and impress and in reality, as a footballer you should be able to play anywhere.

"You need to know where to be and how to hold a position but as long as I'm on the pitch, I'm happy.

“I’ve just been getting my head down in training because I know I've had to work on a few things like my fitness in order to impress the gaffer. I think I'm on the right path back now.”

While McEntee was pleased to make his return to the squad, he says that he was left heartbroken at full-time following their fourth-round exit at Fir Park.

The 21-year-old is adamant that Ton players should be proud of their effort against the Premiership outfit.

He added: “The only way that I can describe that is absolute heartbreak.

“It’s tough to take so late in the game, especially after fighting so hard to take the game to extra-time and to then go and take the lead, but unfortunately decisions didn’t go our way.

“I'm proud of everyone, everyone put in a fantastic performance, it was a great performance all round and we just need to try and take the positives from the situation unfortunately.

“When Robbie [Muirhead] scored, which was an unbelievable goal, I thought we could hold on, but football is a cruel game sometimes and it was just chaotic in the last 15 minutes, and we were on the wrong end of that.”