MORTON new boy Cammy Ballantyne says a hurtling start to his Cappielow career was just what he needed as he looks to hit the ground running off the back of one of the biggest summers of his life so far.

The 27-year-old full back penned a two-year contract for Dougie Imrie's men at the beginning of last month, bringing an end to a two-year period at last year's SPFL Trust Trophy winners Airdrie, before jetting off to get married to in a whirlwind few weeks for the former Dundee United kid.

And Ballantyne admits he was sold on the move to Inverclyde off the back of such positive talks with Ton chief Imrie, whom he believes will be a good match to develop his game even more.

(Image: Andy Scott)

He told the Tele: "It's good to be sorted and to have my future sown up for the next two years.

"I did have other offers, but what sold Morton to me was mainly conversations with the gaffer, the way he wanted to play, the set-up here at Cappielow and how everything was run under him. That excited me.

"We had some good positive chats and I felt as if it would suit me, in terms of my personality and my playing style to come here and I think it's the right decision.

"For me, it's important to get that good feeling when talking to people about potential moves, because it's a lot to take in at the end of the day.

"The manager was a huge selling point. He's honest, straight to the point and down the middle. He's not afraid to tell you how it is.

"He knows his style of play and what he wants from his boys as well, I thought that that would be a good match for me and off the back of playing against a Dougie Imrie team last season I'm glad to have those boys on my side this time.

"It was actually, probably one of the biggest summer's of my life. I was coming out of contract at Airdrie before going off and getting married. It was mental at times."

(Image: Kenny Ramsay)

Ballantyne was thrust straight into the action in Saturday's pre-season victory over Queen of the South.

He only arrived back from his honeymoon last Thursday, to then meet his teammates and train for the first time on Friday before racking up his first minutes in a Ton jersey in a hectic 48 hours.

But he says he wouldn't have it any other way after featuring on both side's of defence as he kept a shutout on his Cappielow bow.

He added: "I was really quite glad to get everything sorted before tying the knot and going away on honeymoons and things like that, it allowed me a bit of time to mentally chill out and I'm now really keen to hit the ground running here at Morton.

"It's good to have gotten straight into things too, even if it's been a bit of a whirlwind. I got back from my honeymoon last Thursday, met and trained with the boys for the first time on Friday then played 75-minutes on Saturday. It was good to get the minutes.

"I can't complain with the amount of minutes at all. But at the end of the day you can train as much as you want, nothing compares to match sharpness and you only get that from playing games so the quicker you're in the better."