DARREN Hynes has revealed Morton's win over Ayr United wasn't down to 'spot' luck as they had perfected their penalties in the build-up to the SPFL Trust Trophy tie.

Dougie Imrie's men converted all five of their penalties in the shootout victory over the Honest Men to progress to the fourth round.

It was Ton's second penalty shootout success after beating Hibs in the League Cup earlier this season.

Hynes believes all their practice from 12 yards paid off as the Greenock men got back on track after suffering back-to-back defeats in the Championship.

He told the Tele: "We were buzzing to get through.

"It is always nice to win on penalties as well, and we will look forward to the next round.

"We practice penalties here and there.

"The gaffer said just to pick your spot and stick with it, don’t change your mind, just strike through the ball.

"So the boys did well when it came to them."

Thursday saw Hynes make his first start since Morton's season opener against Falkirk in the Premier Sports Cup group stage back in July.

The defender was delighted to get 60 minutes under his belt and hopes it will lead to more first-team chances this season.

The 23-year-old believes his team-mates deserve credit for seeing the game out with nine men.

He said: "It was good to get that opportunity to start again.

"Hopefully I will get more chances as the season goes on.

"I couldn’t really see Jai’s [Quitongo] red card because I was off at that point.

"We did well to hang on with nine men to get to the penalties once the decisions happened, and it is always nice to win on penalties."

Morton turn their attentions to this weekend's clash against Championship leaders Partick Thistle.

The right-back believes it was vital for Ton to get back to winning ways following defeats against the Honest Men and Arbroath before their trip to Firhill.

Hynes added: "It is always nice to try and go on a wee cup run.

"It was a tough draw with Ayr United as they are in the same league as us and we played them a couple of weeks before and they beat us here.

"We are looking forward to the draw to see who we get in the next round.

"It was really important to get back to winning ways.

"The manager said before the game that he was looking for a reaction.

"We had a couple of disappointing results even though we played well in some of the games, but the results are the most important at the end of the day."