NEW Morton goalkeeper player/coach Gary Woods has outlined his vision for young Cappielow custodian Sam Murdoch as he looks to help the 16-year-old establish all the right habits to make a career in the game.

Woods put pen to paper on a two-year contract to not only add to, but oversee, the club's goalkeeping department as he looks to bring on, and provide competition for, current shot stoppers Ryan Mullen and Sam Murdoch.

In Murdoch's case, this will be his first full season involved with the first team squad and although the thought of having a 16-year-old in the group makes Woods feel slightly older than necessary, he's looking forward to giving him the helping hand needed to help take his game to the next level.

Woods also outlined what those next steps could look like.

He told the Tele: "It makes me feel old, how young the goalkeeping group is, but it's good for both sides of the coin, especially in Sam's case.

"There's nothing that he's going to do in the coming months that I've not done in my career. It'll be good to pass on my experiences from either a game scenario or in training.

"It's about developing his mentality and helping him kick on now to establish a career in football. We know how hard it is to get a career in football let alone sustain one.

"It's about giving him all the tools to go and do that and have a career, but what level he wants to play at is up to him.

"That will be down to how hard he works, his mentality and how he deals with setbacks. That's what will then decide to what level goes to.

"I think he'll need some experience, that might involve a loan spell. But that could be something to look at a little bit further down the line for him.

"But it'll be good to have him in on a daily basis, work with him and hopefully improve him."

Woods admits that former teammate and now coaching colleague Dougie Imrie was always destined for a managerial role once he called time on his playing days.

And it's come as no surprise to him just how well the Ton gaffer has taken what is usually a hard chance to come by.

Woods said: "When I played with Dougie at Hamilton, I could tell then that he was destined to go into coaching. He was doing stuff within the Hamilton youth set up and you could see he was really invested in it.

"You could see that as a path that he was going to go down. Did I think he'd be at a first team level so quickly? Probably not, purely because of how difficult it is to get your foot in the door.

"Not everybody just gives young managers a chance. And I think that in the last two seasons, especially after his difficult start last season on points terms not performance, he's guided the club to fifth place both times.

"If you look at what he's delivered in his first two seasons, he's done a really good job."