Scott Morton is making the most of being back on the sidelines as the head coach of Dandy Town after nearly a year on the sidelines.

The 55-year-old stepped down as head coach of Somerset Trojans last March for health reasons but has returned to the dugout after agreeing to serve as interim head coach of Town for the rest of the season.

Morton agreed to step in after Aaron Denkins reluctantly relinquished the post this month owing to increased work commitments, but the former Town defender admits his decision to become involved was not straightforward given undisclosed health issues also forced him to step down as head coach of PHC Zebras five seasons ago.

“I had to take a lot into consideration, health first and foremost, and what gave me some encouraging signs is I am back full-out to work and haven’t suffered any setbacks from the health issues,” Morton told The Royal Gazette.

“The uncertainty came because both times I had health issues was when I was deep into coaching a team. That’s when the issues happened, so circulating in my mind is could it be football that’s causing this?

“But fast forward, the club [Town] only had six games left when I was approached, so I said that would be a good test. I wouldn’t have a long stretch to go as far as a number of games, so I said this would be a good test to see if my body will be able to stand up to the conditions or football plus being back to full strength at work.”

Morton is particularly delighted to be back among the coaching staff at his childhood club.

“It feels beautiful to be back,” he said. “Dandy Town is my home-grown team and obviously I haven’t been involved in the club for many, many years from a coaching standpoint,” he added.

“I am assisting behind the scenes with the redevelopment of the field on one of the committees there. That’s keeping me in touch with things that are going on throughout the club, so it wasn’t a hard thought process when it came to taking over the reins because I knew what the background is, the back room, the executives and how they operate.

“I told the club I am only committed until the end of the season and I can’t commit to anything else after that. Once the season is finished and I reassess how my body held up, how mentally I held up with everything, then I’ll take it from there.”

Town suffered a 2-1 loss against Devonshire Cougars in the quarter-final of the FA Cup in Morton’s first game in charge but followed that with an impressive 1-1 draw against title contenders North Village in the league at Bernard Park on Sunday.

Morton’s main objective is to improve the club’s seventh-place position in the Premier Division and steer them farther away from the relegation zone, but to do that Morton insists it is imperative that his team must stop conceding too many goals.

“When I took over they had 29 goals against, so that was a key thing because I don’t care how many goals you score, if you keep leaking goals it’s always going to be a problem, so it has to start there,” he said.

“You have to be difficult to play against and not concede goals in order to give yourself an opportunity to win matches.”

Morton has wasted little time introducing his coaching methods and getting buy-in from his players.

“When I came in, obviously I want to bring my own methodology of the way I want to play,” he added.

“Outside of that, it’s a foundation that I got across to the players for them to understand that even before we cross the white lines, these are some of the components that everyone has to adhere to in order for us to move forward and that foundational component crosses all boards in life. That’s with your job, your family and just through a matter of being committed.

“Number one is doing what you say you’re going to do, so that’s showing up for training on time. It’s a total mental focus to know that you have to sacrifice.

“I told my players just because you started the game before I came, that doesn’t mean you are going to start in this game. For the people who didn’t start, possibly you might start. The positions you played might be different, so come with an open mind because I have to assess the players where they are at, so that they can understand where’s the best spot that I feel they need to fit in for the team to progress.

“So the foundational piece was key and then moving from there is not trying to change everything all at once because they have been used to a certain way for a long period of time. You have to gradually integrate changes in but for me the foundation was non-negotiable.”