MORTON Academy coach John Sutton believes that more youngsters can successfully make the jump to the first team.

The 37-year-old former Hearts striker says he is delighted to see more and more graduates peppered through Gus MacPherson’s first team squad, with as many as eight now regularly involved.

Sutton believes that ‘veterans’ Lewis Strapp and Reece Lyon have paved the way - alongside the return of former academy product Mark Russell - for the club to attract the best local talent to the club.

He told the Tele: "I’ve been in for a couple of sessions now with the boys and it’s been good to be involved in and around the first team again.

"I think if you look at the players who have come through the academy in the last 18 months like Darren Hynes, Michael Garrity, Lewis McGregor and Alex King, it shows that things are being done right at Morton.

"There’s no doubt that the opportunities are there for younger players to progress. We also had Zander Easdale in there too getting some opportunities off the bench towards the end of last season too.

"Strappy (Lewis Strapp) and Reece Lyon could well be considered veterans now as they’ve racked up over 100 appearances between them. But you need to remember where they started out - and others can follow that some pathway.

"Mark Russell is another one too who is a product of the youth academy here. He came through, built a career for himself and now he has come back.

"If you take a look at the squad just now a high percentage of them have come through the youth academy, which is absolutely great.

"It’s great for the club financially and shows we have great ties with the community.

"You’ve got a lot of young players coming through from the youth football scene in Inverclyde and making a break into our first team, which is how it should be at a club like Morton that is engrained in Inverclyde.

"We also have the fan ownership coming and that's a really good selling point to have as well."

Sutton says he is delighted to be back at Cappielow and helping to develop the club’s next generation of stars.

He added: "It's my job to coach these young lads and make them better. And there is no greater job satisfaction than that.

"The few sessions that we’ve had so far have been great. The club’s in a really good place at the moment, which is great to see. Long may that continue."