GARY Oliver believes Saturday’s 1-0 win over Falkirk has all but guaranteed Morton’s participation in the promotion play-offs when May rolls around.

Ton sit joint second in the Ladbrokes Championship table, level on points with the Bairns with two games in hand. 

With Queen of the South in fifth place losing 2-0 to St Mirren in their clash, Oliver insists his side are gearing up for the extra fixtures near the end of the campaign.

And with Dundee United, Queens, Hibs and Falkirk all slipping up on the same afternoon, Saturday turned out to be Morton’s day as they became the only team in the top six to pick up maximum points.

He told the Tele: “There was nothing between the two teams on Saturday and now we’re level on points. So it was a big game. I think that basically confirms that we’ve got the play-offs because there’s now such a big gap, so it’s great for the club. 

“We’ve played the least games in the whole league, we play Hibs twice and we’ve got two games in hand over Falkirk, so you never know what can happen. It’s a strange game, football.

“We’re now 13 points from Queen of the South, who were closest to the play-offs, so hopefully that’s us got it. I’m sure it is, I think everyone knows that right now, but we’ll still keep taking the games as they come and try to finish as high up the table as possible.

"It was perfect timing because before the game we had an idea of the other results. We went out there knowing what we had to do. It’s probably one of the biggest three points of the season, I would think.”

Oliver — who had been out injured since February following a poor tackle from ex-team-mate Chris Higgins against Queen of the South — made his long awaited first-team return against the Bairns at the Falkirk Stadium.

And he insists a heavy challenge against Clyde Under-20s in the development team last midweek gave him the confidence to know that his knee was solid again and he was ready to be involved for Jim Duffy’s side.

He said: “I was delighted to start because I wasn’t sure what the team was going to be. When I was mentioned in the team I was buzzing because I felt fit. It wasn’t a nice game to play in and it was difficult but we worked hard to grind out a result.

“I’ve not felt a thing, my knee is 100 per cent and feels strong. I took a heavy tackle with the 20s on Tuesday night so that gave me a bit of confidence knowing that it held and felt good and sharp.”

Asked if Morton can continue to look up the table now rather than over their shoulder, Oliver said: “Hibs aren’t a million miles away from us. We just need to match them and take our chances when we get them.”