MORTON maestro Gary Harkins says he is relishing his role as elder statesman in a young Cappielow dressing room.

The former Kilmarnock and Dundee midfielder arrived in Greenock from Ayr United in June, and is one of only three squad members over 30.

“I’ve been reminding some of the boys that this is my 17th pre-season whereas some of them are only on three or four,” the 32-year-old joked.

“It is a young dressing room but it’s good for me to be in amongst it, it takes a few years off you. 

I’ve been about the game long enough so it’s easy to settle into a new dressing room, they’re a great group of lads and I’m enjoying it..

“Hopefully I can help the younger players and I might even learn a few things from them.”

Harkins was in impressive form during his Cappielow bow on Tuesday as Morton fought back to draw 2-2 with Queen’s Park in the Betfred Cup before winning on penalties to collect a bonus point.

The playmaker displayed a fine range of passing and some trademark close control, especially during a first half which the home side dominated without scoring.

Two quick-fire strikes from Brian Wharton and Thomas Orr put the Spiders on course for an upset but Morton rallied to level the scores in the dying moments.

Harkins, however, was rueful after committing a costly foul in the lead-up to the opening goal.

He said: “It wasn’t really good enough, to be honest. For the first goal I’ve given away a foul which I thought was harsh at the time, but looking back I probably shouldn’t have dived in.

“They’ve swung the cross in to score from a free header and then the second goal was just as bad.”

Despite poor defending which put the visitors in touching distance of a shock win, Morton boss Jim Duffy will be pleased by his side’s tenacity in recovering the game. Goals from Bob McHugh and defender Darren Barr spared Ton’s blushes before Harkins coolly stroked home in the penalty shootout to earn his side a bonus point.

He added: “We created plenty of chances in the first half and probably should have put a few of those away, but we didn’t and ended up paying for it in the second half.

“At 2-0 down we still had 15 minutes left, so you’re just thinking ‘get one and we’ll see what happens’.

“We had so many corners in the game it was only a matter of time before we scored from one.

“It was a good fightback in the end, young Scott Tiffoney did well when he came on and we managed to grab the two goals.

“It was good to get the bonus point and now we have a big game on Saturday away to Motherwell.”

It was the former Blackburn Rovers man’s first appearance at Cappielow in a Morton shirt, having received some rough treatment from the home fans down the years by virtue of coming from Greenock.

But Harkins insists that’s all in the past and confirmed he’s enjoying finally being at his hometown club.

He added: “I would have preferred a better result but it’s nice to have everyone on side for a change. Hopefully I can do my bit for the club this year.”