JONATAN Johansson believes his Morton players proved a point to former boss Ray McKinnon as he suffered defeat on his controversial Cappielow return.

McKinnon was back in Greenock on Saturday for the first time since he quit just weeks after being appointed to take over at Falkirk.

There were fears the bad blood that has built up in the time since would spill over, with Falkirk even taking their own stewards to the Ladbrokes Championship grudge match.

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Tensions were stoked by local paper the Greenock Telegraph, who handed out red cards emblazoned with the word "Judas" to home fans before the match.

But Johansson was delighted with the way his men coped with the powder-keg affair as Bob McHugh's header sealed a 1-0 victory after the Bairns saw keeper Leo Fasan dismissed for a foul on Michael Tidser.

McKinnon's new side remain rooted to the bottom of the table while the Ton climb to sixth.

His successor told the Morton YouTube channel: "I told the players before the game, that any manager you play against, whether it be an ex-manager, or the manager of Rangers or Celtic, you need to prove a point that you are better than the player in your opposite position.

"I think everybody was determined to do that.

"And I think it was a little bit of a victory for a few players. They felt a little bit emotional when it happened.

"If you can use it in the right way like they did today then it's a positive thing.

"You want to play in games where there is a lot at stake and there is a lot of media interest, crowd interest.

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"Sometimes players get a little bit wound up too so I said to them to channel it in the right way.

"I think we did that more than Falkirk after the first 10 or 15 minutes. We had experienced players in midfield who took charge of the game."