Stevie Aitken will take charge of his 50th match as Dumbarton manager this afternoon as the Sons take on Morton, and he says that he is steering the club towards a bright future.

Aitken kept Dumbarton in the Championship last year despite being one of only two part-time sides in the division.

“I think the club is going in the right direction,” he said. “Obviously it was a big challenge coming in to try and keep Dumbarton in the Championship.

“It was really difficult and we had to recruit a full team in my first season here.

“There’s been some terrific moment and some real highs – we took six points off of Hibs and nine points off of St Mirren last season for example, and we took points from every team apart from Rangers last year too.

“I love the job that I do. That’s five years I’ve been involved in the management game and I love being involved in it.

“It can be stressful at times and it’s really hard work as any manager will tell you, but it’s also rewarding when you get results like the one we did on Saturday against Dundee United.

“It’s really difficult, particularly when you’re combining it with another job and you have to work unsociable hours that you probably wouldn’t have to if you were full-time.

“I’m not the only one that is in that situation, all part-time managers have to deal with that.

“It’s difficult to get out and watch games and obviously you don’t have as much time with your players because they are part-time as well.

“But hopefully this season we can go out and prove some people wrong again.”

Aitken knows that his side will have to be at their best as they visit Cappielow if his 50th match in the Sons dugout is to end in anything but defeat.

“It is quite fitting that this match is against Morton, because it is a club that I have a lot of connections with and there are a lot of people I know there,” he said.

“Jim Duffy has done a terrific job at the club. They have been in terrific form and are unbeaten throughout the League Cup and the start of the league season.

“We know we are in for a tough task, but we will go there confident that we can get something from the game.”