MORTON assistant boss Craig McPherson says his side must find their edge quickly if they are to stand any chance in the play-offs following Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Dunfermline at East End Park.

Ton dominated spells against the Pars but ultimately were unable to maintain their dominance throughout the game and they collapsed in the second half, shipping two sloppy goals to surrender the points.

McPherson insists it’s important they find their feet again soon — or risk the season petering out after such an outstanding campaign.

He said: “We’re very disappointed with the way the game finished, we felt in the first half after losing a poor goal that we came back into the game well and equalised with a good goal. We played some good football and got a lot of balls into the box to create chances.

“But we went in at half-time, had a positive chat with the players and then we come out and lose a goal after two minutes again, which puts us up against it.

“We felt after that the game petered out a wee bit for us, we didn’t have that drive we normally have as part of our game. Then obviously the third goal takes a slight deflection and wrong-foots Gats to kill the game off.

“We’ve been emphasising to the players that they have to find that edge themselves and the only way to do that is with the games you play. 

“You can’t expect to turn up in the play-offs and that it’s going to just click again.

“We had one or two who improved their performances but as a collective we need to find that determination and desire to help a team-mate, stop opposition players getting the better of you on one-on-one situations. 

“And when you get the opportunities, you take them.

“But we’ll move on now to next Saturday. We said to them when the play-offs come round we’ll have the edge that we’ve had but there’s no getting away from it just now that we’re on a disappointing run.”

Morton finished the game with four youth academy graduates on the field with Lewis Strapp and Scott Tiffoney having started the game whilst Jon Scullion and Ben Armour had come on from the bench to play their part.

And McPherson was pleased with how the youngsters handled themselves, insisting the game and subsequent loss can be good character building. 

McPherson also hinted they might be given the opportunity to play again next weekend against Dundee United — or even the play-off fixtures.

He said: “Young Lewis at left-back and Scott Tiffoney played because the manager decided to change it. And I thought they did well, Tiff got a few good crosses into the box and so did Lewis, playing against a very experienced player in Kallum Higginbotham.

“It’s a good education for them, it gives them the opportunity to go and show what they can do and give them the hunger to play more, possibly towards the end of this season and certainly next season.

“It’s good that the manager can do that, but as part of the team I’m disappointed for them because we couldn’t get the result.”