MORTON manager Dougie Imrie has heaped praise on his players for continuing to find the energy to battle away during a hectic fixture schedule stretching all the way back to February.

The Cappielow side will play their twelfth game in seven weeks when Dundee United come calling to Sinclair Street this evening.

The Ton boss admits that the heavy workload has taken its toll on his side.

But he is urging them to keep going until the final whistle of the season, as he targets finishing as high up the table as possible after the disappointment of falling out of the promotion play- offs race.

Imrie told the Tele: "It's another tough game that we've got tonight against Dundee United, but we'll give it our all just like we have done for the majority of the season.

"This group of players in the last two or three months have had to play a lot of games in a really short period of time. People who haven't played the game maybe won't understand this, but it takes a lot out of you.

"To keep going, trying to draw water from the same well, is tough. But they keep on giving as much as they can.

"I'm frustrated for them as much as they're frustrated at how things have panned out. They're a brilliant group who'd have loved to have picked up a few more wins but unfortunately they've not been able to do that, but we'll move on because that's just life.

"We'll need to keep going until the end of the season because who knows what could happen. We could end up finishing in fifth place, the same as last season.

"We're only a point behind Dunfermline at the minute so there's a lot to play for."

Imrie also revealed that he has entered talks with a number of players over extending their current contracts which expire in June.

But he says it isn't an easy task with the potential of better offers elsewhere perhaps turning heads.

Imrie added: "I know there's been a lot of rumours and people asking questions but at the end of the day if people want to try and get more money elsewhere then that's up to them. As a club we can't overspend.

"I can only offer what I can within my budget to try and keep players here. If they want to go and try to get a couple of quid elsewhere, that's life.

"In this day and age, with the cost of living and the things going on in the world, I can understand it and nor do I blame them [players] for trying to open up other avenues.

"I'll keep trying though, because there are players here that I want to keep. But again, until pen goes to paper we can't really say anything.

"One or two have offers. But once something happens we'll let people know."