MORTON boss Jim Duffy relishes the pressure of his side being rated as favourites going into today’s encounter with Dumbarton

Ton were heavy favourites heading to Glebe Park last weekend and remain the most likely with the bookies to grab another three points against Stevie Aitken’s men at Cappielow.

And Duffy says he would rather his side were favourites to win games as opposed to being looked at as underdogs before a ball was kicked.

He told the Tele: “There were high expectations last weekend because people expect you to win these games but they’re definitely not easy. We will need to be of a similar mind again this week because we know it will be difficult.

“I would rather have expectations of winning football matches than the expectations of losing them.

"If you go into games and folk are thinking 'yeah you've got no chance of winning this match', it's a much less pleasant or preferential situation to be in.

"At the end of the day I understand that's the way football works. I do it myself sometimes if I'm watching a game, I'll think 'this team should win this game', and that's the reason why football is so unpredictable.

"If you're not at it you could lose quite easily. But I just want to try and keep looking forward, we do it all the time and we always try to improve aspects of the team. The information we will give the players is to look at the strengths we have and try and build on that.

"Last week was probably the best defensive display we've had all season and if we can maintain that throughout the rest of the pitch it gives everyone the belief that they can do well in any game."

While Duffy was delighted with his side's defensive performance against Brechin last week, the manager insists the Sons will pose a different problem altogether thanks to their experience of playing in the Ladbrokes Championship.

And the 58-year-old reckons they have stronger attacking options than Darren Dods' men provided last Saturday.

He added: "Every team has their own strengths and we've got to try and play our own game as much as we possibly can whilst certainly being fully aware of the determination of the opposition.

"Dumbarton have shown over the last couple of seasons that they can match anyone on their day. I was delighted with our result and general performance against Brechin and I thought we really controlled the game against very difficult opponents on a tight pitch.

"Dumbarton have a bit more fire power than last week and they have the experience of being in this division whereas with Brechin it's new to them.

"Dumbarton have that knowledge and the confidence of knowing they can compete in it. They're always dangerous opponents."