MORTON defender Cammy Ballantyne says he’s feeling as if he’s hitting his peak - and has thanked his new team-mates for giving him such a warm welcome to Cappielow.

The tough tackling defender has been a consistent performer in the early stages of the season after moving from Championship rivals Airdrie in June - even if he’s been playing catch up after a delayed return to pre-season training.

It was a momentous summer for the 27-year-old, who tied the knot just a few days after penning a deal to move to Greenock.

But he’s now fully focused on the task in hand, and says he's excited at the prospect of forming a partnership with Ali Crawford after the pair's solid display against Partick Thistle last week.

Ballantyne told the Tele: “The last couple of weeks have been great. The boys have been great and everyone including the manager and the staff have been so welcoming.

“Obviously when you come back late to pre-season, like I did, you’re playing catch-up from the off, but I feel as if I’m now up to fitness and really feeling sharp at a good time.

“I really enjoyed the game last week. Ali’s been in for a while training with us, so we have a rough idea of how each other plays.

“But it was good to get out and get some minutes in the legs with him.

"It went relatively fine against two of the better players in the league that’ll come down our side in Aidan Fitzpatrick and Harry Milne; we managed to keep them relatively quiet.

“If you can keep them quiet then you’ve got half a chance of keeping a clean sheet, and as a defender that’s what you want to do.

“Obviously going forward you want to contribute. I don’t think the Partick game was one of those days, but we move on from it.”