MORTON starlet Reece Lyon hopes his encouraging performances can cement his place in the first team under David Hopkin this season.

Lyon has impressed over the three Betfred Cup games against Dumbarton, Motherwell and Annan, showing great hunger and determination in the heart of midfield and providing much-needed bite with Jim McAlister being deployed in defence.

He now wants to build on his fine form from last season under former manager Jonatan Johansson — and fulfil his potential playing for boss Hopkin this term.

He told the Tele: “It’s been good to get a run of games in the cup.

“I’ve had to impress two gaffers since I came in and I’ve just worked really hard over pre-season and it’s paying off.

“The gaffer has trusted me to start me in these games, which means a lot.

“He has worked closely with me and I’m feeling the benefits of that and it’s improving my game massively.

“He works with us all in training, we focus a lot on the way we play and clearly it’s working well.

“I think we’ll do really well in the league with the style of play that we have, I think we’ll go far this year.

“Hopefully it’ll be a big year for me and for the team.
Lyon says Hopkin has implemented a fresh drive in all his players after his hard work got him an assist against Annan.

He added: “The gaffer always tells us to be in their faces and pressing high, which I think is better than just sitting back and letting them play.

“It allowed me to go up and nick the ball away from them, so hopefully we can get a lot more goals and assists playing this way.”