By Adam Thomas

MORTON manager Jim Duffy is looking forward to getting back on home soil this weekend after having a long period of away games.

Ton have played seven of their last eight games away from home, but now face the prospect of having five of their last seven matches at Cappielow, starting against Brechin on Saturday.

But the Greenock side have been strong on the road this year, and have picked up the most points away from home along with both St Mirren and Livingston.

Duffy told the Tele: “We’ve had seven of the last eight games away from home, and as much as our away record is very good, it’s still a very difficult period.

“There’s a little bit more balance about the games coming up now, and we’ll see how over the coming weeks and how we go about it.”

Morton have only lost two games on their travels in the Championship this season, while they’ve lost six times at Cappielow.

And the Ton boss says a number of factors have played a part in that.

He added: “You see it more these days with teams having form better away from home, as there’s maybe a little bit less expectation on your shoulders.

“The players are a little bit more relaxed, and you can see that at a lot of clubs, not just at Morton.”

With both Dunfermline and Queen of the South winning their games in hand last night over Brechin City and Dundee United respectively, it means the race for the play-offs is as hotting up.

Only three points separate Dundee United in third down to Queens in sixth, with Morton sitting in the last play-off spot in fourth.

Dundee United still have three games in hand, with continuous call-offs leaving the Tangerines with a number of midweek games from now until the end of the season.

And Duffy hopes his side could capitalise on their good position, and is glad they don’t have the fixture pile-up like they did last season.

He said: “Our goal from now until the end of the season is to accumulate as many points as we can and see whether that’s good enough to maintain a top four position.

“It’s going to be tooth and nail between us and a few other clubs but we’re one of the teams in the mix and it’s a challenge you accept and try and do as best as you can.

“I know last year in the playoffs we had so many games towards the end of the season and we ran out of steam.

“In that respect it’s better to have the games under your belt because there’s a lot of congestion in the fixture list, and some teams have obviously got a lot of games to play, which can have an impact.”