DAVID Hopkin is confident his side can get their Betfred Cup campaign back on track against Annan tonight — despite facing their third game in a week.

The Morton boss is keen to bounce back from Friday night’s 4-0 defeat against Motherwell as they travel to the Borders still firmly in the hunt for second place.

Hopkin stressed the importance of respecting their League Two opponents, who sit bottom of Group E, as Ton’s busy start to the season continues.

He said: “It is the same as last week, we played two games in the space of a few days and we’re playing against a team who have had a few more days’ rest than us. But that’s the Betfred Cup for you, the games come quick and fast.

“It’s an opportunity to make up for Friday night and it’s a game we’re looking forward to.

“It’s going to be a tough game; I think Peter Murphy has done a fantastic job down there and we must treat the game with a lot of respect.

“It’s a tight pitch with the 4G surface, so everyone knows that it’s going to be difficult, but we know what to expect against a good side.

“We need to go into the game with a different mentality than we did on Friday.

“We can’t let the Queen of the South game [on Saturday] influence the way we play, we can’t have one eye on that.

“I’m not even thinking that far ahead yet. We’ve had the players back in training before travelling down.

“Once tonight’s game finishes, we’ll start thinking ahead to Queen of the South.

“We’ve got a run of games coming up that we have a lot of interest in.”

Hopkin believes it will be an important game for academy graduate Lewis Strapp, pictured, who is returning to Annan for the first time since his impressive loan spell at Galabank last season.

He added: “It’s important for young players to go out on loan and get experience playing men’s football.

“Lewis is a developing player, who did exceptionally well at Annan last year and he came back into the team and kicked on even more this year.

“You forget he’s only 19, as he’s been pushing to improve and get in people’s faces which we saw against Dumbarton and again against Motherwell on Friday.

“It’s all about desire now for him, which he showed in abundance on Friday night.

“He’s an all-round player and someone I’d call a proper defender.

“He’s got a great rapport with the fans, which we saw on Tuesday night, and I was delighted that he got his goal against Dumbarton.

“I think he’s done brilliantly to come in and step into the first team in the way that he has.

“There’s a good chance he’ll get a great reception down at Annan as I think he performed really well for them last year.”