MORTON boss Jim Duffy is set to complete a double signing swoop after agreeing terms with defender Stefan Milojevic and midfielder Conor Pepper, the Tele can exclusively reveal.
Left-sided centre-half Milojevic spent the second half of last season with Airdrie, impressing at the heart of the Diamonds’ back four as they finished sixth in League One.
The Serb — who was born in Brest, France during his father Goran’s spell as a player there — stands at 6ft 4in tall and counts FK Teleoptik, MFK Kosice, BSK Borca, and FK Bezanija as former clubs. A former Real Mallorca youth, he was brought to Scotland on a short-term deal by Gary Bollan in January and made 17 appearances as the Excelsior Stadium side staged a stunning resurgence.
The 23-year-old’s contract expired at the end of the campaign and he has now made a verbal commitment to sign with the Cappielow club.
Duffy said: “We have agreed terms on one-year deals with two players. The first is Stefan Milojevic, a left-sided centre-half who played for Airdrie in League One last season. He went there in January when they were struggling a wee bit, but they had a great run from then on in with Gary Bollan. “Defensively, they improved significantly and Stefan helped with that.
“I saw him playing there and he was very impressive. “Hopefully by coming back to full-time football he can continue to improve with us. He’s a modern-day defender; he’s good on the ball but he’s also a tall, physical lad who can go and compete.
“And he’ll give us balance on the left side.
“We’re looking forward to having him on board.” Pepper, meanwhile, is a 20-year-old right midfielder who spent the last two seasons with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
A Republic of Ireland Under-19 cap, he made 15 appearances and scored two goals in his first season in the Highland capital before falling out of favour last term.
The Ton boss, above, added: “The second player who has agreed to come is Conor Pepper.
“He’s a midfielder who can play on the right or in the middle of the park.
“He played close to 20 games for Inverness in the Premier League under Terry Butcher but didn’t really play so much under John Hughes.
“I spoke to John and also saw him playing under Terry when I was doing some media work.
“He’s tenacious, hard-working and is the type whose enthusiasm rubs off on others.
“He did very well that first year, but you sometimes find that young boys come flying out the traps but then have a wee dip.
“Then the manager changes and it’s hard to re-establish yourself.
“But John was glowing in his references in terms of the boy’s attitude and determination.
“He said he just played a different way and it didn’t quite suit Conor.
“I also spoke to former Hearts striker John Robertson who lives in Inverness and takes in a lot of their games and got a little insight and information from him.
“He is a young player who has a real desire to establish himself, and that’s important from our point of view.
“ I’m hopeful he’ll start that ball rolling with Morton and do well for us.
“Both Stefan and Conor have terrific enthusiasm.
“They’re both happy to be coming to Morton and we’re delighted to have them.
“We have been working hard to get players on board and this is the first two of several that we are looking to bring in over the next four or five weeks.”
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