McHughbid to hold whip hand in race to be winner of the derby
TALKING MORTON
MORTON striker Bob McHugh is looking to get his Cappielow career off to a flyer by firing his new side to victory in his first Renfrewshire derby, and get one over some old friends in the process.
The former Motherwell and Queen of the South forward is enjoying life since he swapped Falkirk for Greenock in the summer.
And he hopes to ingratiate himself with his new supporters further by getting the goals to halt the momentum of Jack Ross’s resurgent St Mirren side.
“I’m looking forward to it,” said McHugh. “I’ve never been to one, but I’ve always heard about it and a few of the boys have told me some stories from the games in the last couple of seasons.
“There’s a few faces I know at St Mirren like John Sutton and wee Gavin Reilly up front, so we know that these sorts of players can cause us some problems, but hopefully we can come out on top.
“I haven’t been texting the boys or anything, I don’t even think big John has got a phone! But I’ll catch up with them after the game to see how they are getting on.
“From now until the game, I’ll just be concentrating on us, and hopefully we can take the three points.
“They had a good bit of momentum towards the end of last season and it looks as if they’ve carried that on.
“They’ve brought in some quality players and they have a good manager as well, so it will be a game that we will have to be wary of, but we’re confident that we can cause them enough problems to get the three points.”
McHugh j umped at the chance to work under his new manager Jim Duffy when the opportunity presented itself, and he has been an admirer of his Morton sides for some time having come up against them.
HAVING come from a side where finishing in the top two of the Championship has become the norm, he sees no reason why his new team shouldn’t be looking to knock his former side from that lofty perch.
“It’s been great and it’s been pretty straightforward to settle in,” he said. “The boys are great and I’m enjoying it. I’ve played the last few games so it’s been a good start.
“The manager contacted me in the summer, and as soon as I heard from him I was definitely keen. I knew he was a good manager and I knew a few of the boys as well, and from playing against them I knew how good a team they were, so that was a big attraction too.
“Morton are ready to take the next step. That’s what I’m hoping for and that’s what the manager will be pushing for as well.
“Obviously, Morton don’t have the same budget or squad size that Falkirk have got, but I think we have the same kind of quality in the first eleven, and with a wee bit of luck and hard work we can hopefully be right up there.”
McHugh and Morton failed to find the net on Saturday as they were held to a goalless draw at Dumbarton despite dominating most of the match, but he feels that the goals will soon start to flow.
“It was obviously frustrating at the weekend, we felt we deserved the three points,” he said.
“It was one of those games where we tried everything, we just didn’t have the quality we wanted in the final third and the ball didn’t break for us.
“Their keeper had a few good saves, and a couple from me which was frustrating, but it’s the first game of the season and the boys are still playing catchup in terms of sharpness.
“Hopefully in a couple of weeks those ones will be flying into the net.”