Defender Naismith is Morton bound

Jul 10 2012 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

TEENAGE defender Jason Naismith was last night putting the finishing touches on a loan move to Morton.

The talented centre-half, who turned 18 last month, will ply his trade with the First Division outfit until the end of December.

Morton manager Allan Moore travelled to St Mirren’s training HQ in Ralston yesterday afternoon to finalise the deal.

And, afterwards, Saints gaffer Danny Lennon said he expects Naismith to be a better player by the time he returns to Paisley.

Lennon added: “This will be a very good temporary move for Jason. He’ll get plenty of experience under his belt in a league that I consider to be the most competitive in Scotland.

“Hopefully, when he comes back to us, he will have been able to cash in on all that experience.”

Naismith is a product of the St Mirren youth system and has been a regular in David Longwell’s Under-19 team.

He also earned call-ups to the Saints first team last season, featuring in a game against Aberdeen at home and away to Hibernian.

On both occasions, he came off the subs’ bench to bolster the St Mirren defence.

Naismith also caught the eye of national coaches as he was picked for the Scotland pro-youth squad that took part in the 59th ADO Den Haag Youth Tournament, in Holland.

Lennon added: “For a player who is so young, Jason has developed fantastically well. He’s very mature on the pitch and he’s a hard-working boy too.

“We brought him over from the Under-19s into the first team squad on the odd occasion last season and he handled himself wonderfully well.”

Saints play Morton in the Renfrewshire Cup Final later this month but it’s unlikely Naismith will feature against his parent club.