PFA Scotland Championship Player of the Year Lewis Morgan has paid a glowing tribute to St Mirren manager Jack Ross for making sure he maintained his form after signing for Celtic in January.

And the winger, who saw out the season in Paisley after signing for the Scottish champions in a £300,000 deal, has tipped his old club to flourish in the Premiership next term if they hold on to Ross.

“I knew I was going to be staying at St Mirren,” he said “It was spoken about before the deal went through. It was easy to get my ahead around and I don’t think the season could have gone any better if you look at the success of both of the clubs.

“What helped with that is that I’m working with a manager who is so passionate, a bunch of players who wouldn’t have let standards drop. I knew a club like St Mirren don’t let standards drop as well, but I’m not that type anyway.

“It’s a really exciting team at St Mirren, so if I wasn’t performing, I wouldn’t have been playing and that made it easier. To win the Championship Player of the Year Award was a fitting end.”

Morgan added: “Naturally, progression from Championship to Premiership means there is going to be a turnover of players at the club. Rightly so because the Premiership is a different animal.

“But if they can keep the manager and the core of the squad, there’s no reason why they can’t kick on and surprise people next season. The manager and the players are that good, they are not just the 13th best team in the country.

“They’ll go into the Premiership thinking they can do better than most people expect.”