MIDFIELD maestro Andy Murdoch reckons he became a ‘Jack of all trades’ during his time at Queen of the South — but that won’t stop him from putting a spanner in their promotion hopes this weekend.

Murdoch spent six months at Palmerston after his parent club Rangers farmed him out to get some experience of first-team football.

Under the tutelage of then-Queens boss James Fowler, Murdoch played in a variety of different positions at Palmerston, gaining first team experience and broadening his football education.

Now the 23-year-old Morton star aims to go back to Dumfries this weekend and make sure there’s clear daylight between Jim Duffy’s side and the Doonhamers in the race for a promotion play-off spot.

He told Tele Sport: “There’s not much between three or four teams in the table, it’s quite tight there, so it’ll be a difficult game, especially down there.

“I was on loan down there for the second half of the season [2015/16] and it was a good club with good players, so I enjoyed it.

“I played in a few different positions in the first team, so it was obviously good to experience that.

“It’s changed a bit since then, a few boys have left but they still have good players like Stephen Dobbie and John Rankin. They know what they’re doing, so they’re always a difficult team.

“But we’re doing well and we just need to keep it going by getting another win in the league.”

The Ton starting 11 appears to pick itself these days after four wins on the trot — with Murdoch playing a big part in the middle of the park.

And he reckons the team has found a system of playing that suits everyone.

He said: “I think we’ve kind-of found a system that’s maybe suiting everyone at the moment.

“Everyone knows their roles and it’s going well, so long may that continue.”

A major key to that success has been Murdoch’s partnership in the middle of the park with the experienced Gary Harkins right beside him.

Murdoch said: “Gary knows the game and has seen it all and he helps me out. It’s good to play in the middle with Gary because he always talks to you.

“And [Michael] Tidser’s a quality player that knows the game, while Frank Ross has come in and given us that freshness.

“He’s also got that trick whereby he can go by somebody, so it’s working out at the moment.

“We need to keep it going, although it’s difficult in this league because the standards are so similar.”

Murdoch is fully aware of the importance of results in the next few weeks to Morton’s entire season.

They have four games to negotiate in quick succession before heading to Parkhead to play Celtic in the Scottish Cup quarter-finals.

But Murdoch is relishing the games coming around so soon.

He said: “We have a few games in the next couple of weeks, so it’s an important time for us.

“It’s always good when the games come thick and fast, though. You are not really thinking about what’s next because it’s just there; it happens, so we’re looking forward to it.”