Kerr Waddell believes he could have held down a first team place at Dundee given the chance.
But the central defender has backed his team-mates to turn their season around without him.
Waddell was sent out on loan to Morton in the summer to get regular competitive football.
In an ideal world he’ll come back to Dens Park in January with plenty of game-time under his belt, and Dundee will have pulled away from their current lowly position.
Watching from afar as Neil McCann’s men have toiled hasn’t been easy for the 20-year-old, who played 22 times last season.
“It’s a bit upsetting to see but there’s nothing I can do about it while I’m here,” he said.
“My loan deal is until the middle of January.
“It’s not great what’s happening just now at Dens but it’s a good set of boys and hopefully they can turn things around.”
Helping Morton compete at the top of the Championship table and then stepping back into the Dundee side after Christmas would be the perfect scenario – but it’s not the only one.
“That’s the plan,” he said.
“But if I’m doing well here, I’ll be more than happy to stay at Morton if Dundee don’t want me to play.
“You’ve got to believe in yourself and I feel that I could be playing for them. Obviously the manager doesn’t want me to at this moment in time so you just have to get on with it.
“He told me to play as many games as I can and impress him because he’ll be watching how I’m getting on. Hopefully that will get me back in the team.
The man who brought Waddell to Cappielow, Ray McKinnon has of course moved to Falkirk.
A change of manager, and an early season injury, wasn’t in the script but Waddell is optimistic that things are going to work out well for him in Greenock.
“Ray McKinnon was really keen to get me down,” he said. “He told me how impressed he’d been with me when we played against United in the Betfred Cup.
“He’s left now and I’m really enjoying working under the new manager. He’s got his own ideas.
“I got an injury, which was unlucky for me, but the two centre-halves have done well and taken their chance. I can’t really expect to play when they’re doing so well.
“Hopefully I can prove in training that I’m good enough to start and then I can stay in the side.”
