MORTON boss Jim Duffy insists injuries to Lee Kilday and Thomas O’Ware forced his hand into signing defender Luca Gasparotto on an emergency loan.

But he admits he’s delighted to bring in the defender who has plenty of experience working with the players and staff at Cappielow having previously been a Ton player during the 2015-16 season.

The Ton gaffer also explained that he felt it was important to bring in a player who would be able to play straight away — and Gasparotto was a perfect fit.

He said: “With the long-term injury to Lee [Kilday] and the fact Thomas O’Ware, pictured, was injured last week and missed the game [against Queen of the South], we don’t really have any natural cover.

“Hopefully Thomas won’t be too long, but we don’t know. Therefore, we’re a wee bit stretched in the defensive area, so I just felt it was important to get someone in who is good enough to compete when everyone is fit.

“Luca is more than good enough to go and compete for a first-team place and he’s been here before, so it should be a straightforward transition into what we’re trying to achieve.

“At this moment in time we are looking for someone who is available to play right away rather than bed them in for a few weeks.”

Duffy also hinted at the prospect of bringing in another new face to compete, perhaps in an attacking area. 

He added: “We’ve managed to get one in and we’ll see if we can bring in someone else as well, maybe at the top end of the pitch, but they’re hard to find and teams aren’t keen to let them go out. But we’ll keep looking.”