Lee Clark insists his Kilmarnock players do not have bad attitudes despite criticising their approach in the final stages of Saturday's defeat to Morton.

The Rugby Park side suffered a 2-0 Betfred Cup loss to Ton on their first home outing of the new campaign.

The result hands Jim Duffy's unbeaten Greenock men the initiative in the race to finish top of Group H but it will concern the Killie faithful that their club could experience a repeat of last term's relegation fight, despite seeing boss Clark make 11 new signings during the summer.

Five of those recent recruits started against Morton but only Jordan Jones came close to impressing and Clark accused his side of lacking urgency in the closing stages.

He said: "We had opportunities to take a quick throw or a quick corner and we were just sauntering over to the ball.

"We didn't take enough risks. When the ball went into the box there was no one else around it if the strikers didn't get on it.

"It's very disappointing. These new lads need to learn very quickly."

But the former Birmingham and Blackpool manager denied there were deeper problems in his camp.

"It's not an attitude problem," he stressed. "It's too easy to say it's about attitude or that they weren't trying. That's an easy cop out.

"The old adage from somebody having a pint after the game is that the players didn't try, that the attitude was bad because they lost.

"That's not the case. What I'm talking about is the players having the game management to win games at the highest level."

For all that top-flight Killie failed to spark, there was a crispness to Morton's display which should encourage Duffy.

Frontmen Gary Oliver and Jai Quitongo linked up well and deserved the goals they scored either side of the interval.

But their manager is not getting carried away.

Asked if the manner of his team's performance had made him reconsider his expectations ahead of the new Ladbrokes Championship season, he said: "No, not all. This is a cup competition and we're trying to keep a level of perspective on it.

"We want to build confidence but the Championship has another set of demands. Every game is so intense, every game requires 100 per cent effort."