Andy: It was a simple decision to stay at Morton

Andy Murdoch says he was always set on signing a new contract at Cappielow after thoroughly enjoying his first season as a Morton player.

The former Rangers midfielder penned an extension yesterday afternoon to tie himself to the club for the 2017/18 Ladbrokes Championship campaign.

Manager Jim Duffy admitted he was pleasantly surprised that a Premiership club didn’t snap up the 22-year-old, but Murdoch revealed he hadn’t even considered moving elsewhere and that it was a simple decision to stay.

Speaking to gmfc.net, he said: “I’m delighted to sign a new deal. I had a good season here, really enjoyed it, and the changing room was brilliant, so I was happy to stay. It was a pretty simple decision to be honest.

“I wanted to stay here and play games. I originally signed until the January and wasn’t expecting to start so many games, but as the season went on I played more.

“It was a good season, a really good season. The Aberdeen game at Hampden, I thought we did well against a very good team.

“I enjoyed the St Mirren game here when we won 3-1 and going back to Ibrox, where I thought we did well. My first start, when we won 5-0 away at Queen of the South, was another highlight. There were a lot of positives.

“In the play-offs, we were the better team, or at least even, in the first half of both matches. In the second halves, the season maybe caught up on us or whatnot.

“It was disapppointing to go out by the scoreline we did, but we can take positives from the first half performances, because we were good in both games.

“The ambition for next season is just to try and do as well as we can, but there is going to be a bit more expectation and teams won’t take us lightly – so we’ll need to try and make sure we perform in every game.”

Image: Ross Cameron