MORTON reach the halfway stage in their league campaign this afternoon when they travel to South Lanarkshire to face promotion-chasing Hamilton Accies at New Douglas Park.

There’s been very little in the way of Christmas or any other cheer for Ton fans lately, with their favourites rock bottom of the Championship after a frightful five months which have yielded only nine points.

With just under 20 games to go there is obviously still time to turn things around but there is an acceptance that the situation is now grave.

The Greenock men are 10 points adrift of the sanctuary of eighth place after Falkirk became the latest team to profit from their generous approach to defending seven days ago.

An inexplicable loss of concentration at a set piece and a careless mistake in open play consigned them to their 12th defeat of the season in a match where there had hardly been a gulf between the two sides on the park.

This has been a recurring theme of what’s been a nightmare of a campaign so far.

While Morton have been on the end of a couple of heavy thrashings, the number of times they have gone down in a game where there’s been little to separate the sides is remarkable.

They could have picked up points in many of the defeats they have suffered if only they’d got the basics right and not gifted away a catalogue of criminally-cheap goals.

New manager Kenny Shiels will doubtless be working tirelessly with the squad in an attempt to eradicate these costly errors but there may well come a point when the only solution is to look elsewhere.

It seems that process may already be under way with defender Darren Cole coming in, with the release of Mark McLaughlin and Nacho Novo freeing up some funds — and it would be no surprise to see other players exit too.

If Morton are to stop the bleeding, then either the current defensive personnel will have to quickly discover a hitherto-hidden ability to learn from their mistakes, or they will have to be replaced.

The unpalatable alternative is that the club will find themselves on the outside looking in when the likes of Rangers, and most probably Hearts, join the Championship fray next term and add vital extra revenue.

In the circumstances, relegation is a scenario which everyone at the club must be particularly desperate to avoid this season.

But that goes for everyone else at the wrong end of the table and the problem for Ton is that those other clubs are all showing an ability to dig in and earn points as they try to keep their heads above water.

Morton, on the other hand, have now lost six on the spin and look to be stuck in a rut at the moment.

Confidence must be a massive issue and the difficulty is that it will only be properly restored by the team securing a few wins and producing good performances that will build a bit of self-belief.

Managers and coaches can only achieve so much in their attempts to build each individual up to feel good about themselves — in a vicious circle like this it is victories which will ultimately make the difference.

So where might the next one be coming from?

On the face of it, at Hamilton’s home would not be high on the list — Accies have been resurgent this season under the management of Alex Neil.

They are vying with Dundee for top spot and are understandably clear favourites to collect three points.

But Morton have already showed that they can be a match for them on their day.

The two clubs shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw at Cappielow back in October, in a game where the home side produced one of their strongest displays of the season.

They’ll undoubtedly have to raise their game and pose more of a threat today if there’s to be a repeat.

While elements of last Saturday’s showing pleased the new manager, Morton did not work Falkirk goalkeeper Michael McGovern anything like enough, especially given they were at home.

They could not find a goal despite David McNeil, Archie Campbell and young Aidan Ferris all spending time on the pitch.

Campbell missed a good chance when he was put through late on in the game but despite being a bit of a forgotten man this term, on track record alone he is surely still Morton’s best option for providing a goal threat.

The problem has been that he needs a certain type of partner alongside him to thrive — witness his very effective combination with Peter Weatherson last season — and the squad has lacked that kind of presence.

With a move for Garry O’Connor possibly coming to fruition, it may be that the manager will find a way to get Campbell firing again.

Whoever plays up front could also be doing with a bit more ammunition to work with, and the return of Reece Hands from a lengthy spell on the sidelines will surely strengthen Morton’s middle to front, as will the arrival of Barrie McKay on loan from Rangers.

Hands showed glimpses of what he can bring to the team in the first 45 minutes last week, but his effectiveness was blunted when he was moved wide to accommodate the withdrawal of Joe McKee, who has been unable to find any form at all since coming back from injury.

The arrival of McKay could help keep Hands in his more favoured central position and inject the type of attacking threat that the team has sorely lacked.

New faces will also hopefully bring a freshness as Ton bid farewell to 2013 and hope for better times ahead.

TEAM LATEST KENNY Shiels is still without the injured trio of David O’Brien (knee), Tony Wallace (groin) and Jonathan Page (Achilles).

Defender Thomas O’Ware was left concussed after a nasty collision of heads in Monday’s reserve defeat against Queen’s Park and could miss out depending on medical advice.

Teenage striker Aidan Ferris, who Shiels handed a debut to in his first game in charge, has been left sidelined for at least six weeks after suffering a medial ligament tear.

After missing the Falkirk defeat due to a hip flexor problem, midfielder Jake Nicholson is expected to be fit and available for selection.