KENNY SHIELS has vowedhe is the man to take Morton back up to the Championship at the first time of asking following their relegation to League One.

The Ton went down meekly, losing 2-0 at Alloa, to remain 11 points adrift of Cowdenbeath with just three matches left to play.

But the under-performing Greenock men can have few complaints about their descent into the third tier.

The Cappielow club have won just five of their 33 league matches as they fell through the relegation trap door and bowed out of the second tier for the first time since 2006.

And Shiels said: "We knew it was coming and we thought we could have got a result at Alloa but it was not to be. But the work has already begun on re-building for next year and doing everything we can to make sure we come back up at the first time of asking.

"Do I think I am the man to achieve that? Absolutely I do. I have re-built clubs before and I will re-build Greenock Morton.

"I believe we can come back up stronger for this experience. So I can't wait for next season.

"But we play the top three in our final games and we owe it to the integrity of the league to give it everything whether we are down or not."

Shiels added: "We want to salvage a little bit of pride but the players must also realise that they are playing for their futures.

"My eye has been on the future for a while and the goal is to come straight back up. I don't want to make a drama out of a crisis, it is painful that we have finally gone down but these things happen and you have to take your medicine."

After Ton skipper Dougie Imrie missed a point-blank header early doors the Wasps stung hard in 15 minutes when Kevin Cawley headed past Derek Gaston after a touch of the Keystone Cops in the visiting defence.

With the lack of urgency in the Morton ranks baffling, and frontman Rowan Vine delivering an unbelievably ineffective performance at the apex of the Cappielow attack, the Greenock side were toothless.

Eight minutes after the break Alloa's Ryan McCord headed home Michael Doyle's cross to ease the Recreation Park side's own relegation fears by taking them seven points clear of Cowdenbeath.

While the pain of relegation was etched deep on the face of chairman Douglas Rae who gave a straight "no comment" to SportTimes in the aftermath, a defiant Shiels says there was plea in mitigation for his men.

The Morton gaffer was far from happy with the artificial surface at Recreation Park. He added: "We did have six players injured while the artificial surface did us no favours.

"When it is dry and windy, it makes things very difficult. No one talks about synthetic pitches in these conditions but it makes things difficult."