MORTON manager Jim Duffy admitted his side let the supporters down after their 1-0 loss to Queen of the South all but ended their play-off hopes.

With Dunfermline and Dundee United both winning, the pair who currently occupy the last two play-off spots moved five points ahead of the Greenock side.

It means Morton need to win both of their last two games to have any chance of making it into the top four.

Even then, if either the Pars or United win at least one of their remaining fixtures, then that will seal their place in the promotion play-offs.

Duffy said: “It was always unlikely anyway. At least we would have still been in the fight, but this defeat takes the pressure off the opposition. They can relax now.

“From our point of view if you go out all guns blazing then fair enough, but on Saturday that wasn’t the case, there was a real spark missing.

“I thought we had maybe three or four players playing anywhere near the level I’d expect, the rest of the team were well off the pace.

“I’m just really disappointed as it’s unlike us, and we’ve picked the wrong time of the season to have that sort of performance.

“I’m gutted. You put so much into a season and then put in a performance like that which is unbelievably flat.

“I don’t understand why. We had so much to play for and unfortunately we’ve let ourselves down and we’ve let the supporters down.”

It was a poor performance in a must win game and despite having several chances the Ton were second best for most of the afternoon.

And the Morton boss confessed the Dumfries side were well worth their victory.

He added: “There’s no doubt Queen of the South were the better side. We had a few chances, as they did, but I think over the piece we can’t complain.

“I felt Queen of the South seemed a little bit more up for the challenge than we were, and that’s bitterly disappointing.

“Over the course of the season the one thing we haven’t lacked is that desire to go and win matches, and there was an element of that missing.”

Morton’s two remaining games of the Championship season are away to rivals St Mirren in the Renfrewshire derby, and a home tie against Inverness Caley Thistle.

Saints secured the title on Saturday against Livingston in Paisley, being crowned league champions with two games to spare.

The Caley Jags are still within a shout of the play-offs and their good recent form has catapulted them up the league table.

They can still leapfrog Morton, with two games in hand on the Ton and only two points behind them in sixth place.