ALEX MORRISON, the Glasgow promoter, has played down fresh concerns that Scott Harrison is once again threatening to go off the rails after the former world featherweight champion was spotted leaving an Edinburgh nightspot at the weekend.

Harrison is scheduled to have his third comeback bout in less than five weeks, at the Kelvin Hall on December 1, and would normally be expected to be in full training at this point. However, Morrison insisted yesterday the incident was simply a "blip", before announcing that another member of his stable, Greenock's John Simpson, has been lined up as Harrison's next opponent.

He said: "I am planning to match Harrison with Simpson. John says he'll take the fight and it's now up to Harrison to agree, but I don't foresee a problem. They will fight for a title of some description. John is the Celtic super- featherweight champion and Scott is the International Masters lightweight champion but I see this fight as effectively an eliminator for something better."

The promoter added: "I am not worried about Harrison misbehaving. What happened at the weekend was only a blip, a one-off night on the tiles before he starts serious training this week in Spain."

Morrison revealed recently that he and Harrison had been involved in discussions with fellow promoter Frank Warren about the possibility of him challenging World Boxing Organisation lightweight champion Ricky Burns early in the New Year.

Such a prospect depends on Burns making a successful third defence of his crown against Liam Walsh at London's ExCel Arena on December 15, a fight he is expected to win.

Harrison must also show against Simpson that he is worthy of a crack at the title and he will find the former British and Commonwealth featherweight champion a hot handful. Harrison silenced his critics by making a successful comeback at the Kelvin Hall in June when he stopped the Hungarian teenager, Gyorgy Mizsei, after more than six years out of the ring before then outpointing Englishman Joe Elfidh at the SECC last month.