Whoever selects the music at Cappielow clearly has a wry sense of humour.

As soon as referee John McKendrick blew the final whistle to confirm Morton’s 1-0 win over Dundee, the strains of “Beautiful Sunday” blared through the PA system.

The Daniel Boone ditty is a firm favourite of Dundee United fans after it was first played at Tannadice following a derby success many moons ago. Hearing that song as they headed for the Cappielow exit would have compounded the travelling supports misery after James McPake’s side went down to Peter Grant’s first half injury-time header to fall seven points behind their city rivals and Championship leaders.

Dundee squandered a host of chances in the opening 45 minutes and were made to pay when Grant lost marker Cammy Kerr at a Nicky Cadden’s free-kick to power home a header.

Positives were few and far between for Dundee, however, one was the second half run out for new signing Graham Dorrans, a player with the quality to play at a far higher level than the Championship. Having signed on Friday, the former Scotland international was introduced in the action in the 56th minute for Shaun Byrne to make his first appearance in a year.

Not since he played for Rangers against Ayr United in the Betfred Cup last September has Dorrans been involved in competitive action as a knee injury restricted him to just three appearances last season.

Having undergone knee surgery last term, the 32-year-old was unable to force his way back into Steven Gerrard’s side once fully fit, then frozen out of the Rangers manager’s plans for this term and freed by the Ibrox outfit last month.

As disappointed as he was to leave his boyhood heroes, Dorrans had to move on to experience the buzz of playing again.

Dorrans said: “It was definitely tough but the situation I found myself in, I had to get out and play football.

“I’m 32 and I’ve got ambitions to play as high as possible. It was never easy to leave but it was the right decision.

“As much as it was a tough decision to leave Rangers, it wasn’t really because I want to be back playing football and enjoying football. I’ve missed a lot of games through injuries and missed the buzz of playing games on a Saturday.

“I’ve not played much football for a while so it was good to get minutes under my belt. It was good to get out there but the result was obviously disappointing.

“I’ve trained every day since April back at Rangers and the knee feels fine. I just have to get match sharpness back as I’ve not had games.

“Confidence in the knee isn’t an issue. I’ve played on astro pitches as well as grass.”

Dorrans had other options but revealed his relationship with McPake, who he played with at Livingston, convinced him to make Dundee his next port of call.

He said: “We spoke a lot after the window closed. He was keen to get me in. This is the best place for me to play football and get myself fit.

“I’ve got big ambitions to get back as high as possible. If it’s the Premiership with this club, great, but I still want to play as high as I can.”

Morton matchwinner Grant insists he took as much satisfaction from the clean sheet as he did from his goal.

Grant said: “It’s important to be a threat in both boxes. I’m happy to contribute with the goal but the biggest thing was the win.

“Obviously getting a clean sheet for me is just as important as the goal.

“A lot of teams look at centre-halves being flashy and getting on the ball but my main job is to be the number one defender, keeping clean sheets and protecting our goal. So that’s what I pride myself on.”