NEW Morton signing Darragh O’Connor says he's delighted to get his move to Cappielow over the line after a January swoop by Dougie Imrie for the defender failed to materialise.

O'Connor says he didn’t have to think twice over making the move from Motherwell to Greenock having signed a pre-contract to join the Ton yesterday.

The defender joins Imrie’s side on a one-year deal until June 2023 when his current contract with the Fir Park club expires at the end of this month.

The 22-year-old former Leicester City colt became the third signing to come through the door this summer - joining Jack Baird and Carlo Pignatiello - and he delighted to complete the switch after Ton's attempt to secure his services fell through last season.

He told the Tele: "I am very happy, it is a weight off my shoulders knowing I can go away and enjoy my summer break.

"For me it was a no-brainer really. Dougie spoke to me after the first game we played when I was at Queens.

"He wanted me in January but we couldn’t get a hold of anybody at Motherwell.

"So unfortunately, the move didn’t materialise.

"Dougie said he would keep in contact with me for the rest of the season, then was told that my contract wasn’t getting renewed at Motherwell and then I answered the phone and I knew it was the right move."

Having been in touch with Imrie in the second half of last season, O'Connor hopes to repay the faith Imrie has shown in him when the campaign gets underway.

He said: "Dougie showed a lot of faith in me. He was consistently on to me even when I was away on holiday, so I just want to repay his faith now by hopefully putting in good performances over the course of the season.

"Hopefully I can push with the team to have a successful season."

Having only made six appearances for Motherwell, the centre-back said it was crucial to move on loan to Queen of the South in January to get game time in the second half of last season to continue his development.

He said: "It was absolutely massive.

"I needed the games, the first six months I was a training player at Motherwell and didn’t really get a look in for whatever reason.

"It was hard going into the training weeks for the first six months because I had nothing to look forward to at the end of the week.

"Then the move to Queens helped massively because I was able to play week-in, week-out, make mistakes and correct them."

The Irishman admits being part of the relegated Queens side was tough but hopes he can use the experience of playing in the Championship to his own benefit ahead of next season.

He said: "With Queens being bottom of the league, it was tough going into games knowing we might not have gotten results.

"But we still battled, we never gave up.

"I thoroughly enjoyed my time there, because they have me the platform to actually go and express myself and the move came about at Morton from playing with Queens.

"But it is going to be an even tougher league this season with the teams that are in it and I am looking forward to the challenge."

Having met up with the Ton manager yesterday morning, O’Connor is now excited to get to into the season now that his future is settled.

He added: "I was at the club for one of the games.

"I didn’t really see the ins and outs of the club, but I was in the club this morning and had a good hour conversation with the gaffer and he really put me at ease and he laid out the plans for the season.

"I can’t wait to get going now."