MORTON boss Jim Duffy is demanding significant improvement from his team as he targets full points from their first home league fixture of the 2014-15 season.

The Ton welcome Stevie Aitken’s Stranraer to Cappielow as they aim to get off the mark following their opening-day defeat away at Ayr United last week.

Duffy was hugely disappointed with his side’s display against the Honest Men and has called on his players to redeem themselves by playing to their full potential tomorrow.

He has been working hard to polish several aspects of their performance, with specific focus on adding poise when they are in possession.

Duffy told the Tele: “My expectations are to always improve each week, to be better in a number of ways. But the vital one would be our composure. We lacked a bit of composure last week. The players tried hard and worked hard and created a good number of chances.

“I looked back at the DVD to analyse things, and, ironically, we created about four or five really good chances without playing well. We could have played a lot better.

“We didn’t have any concerted control of the ball, and that’s something you need no matter what level you’re playing at. You need to have a period in the game when you’re controlling the ball.

“We just need to relax on the ball a little bit more. Maybe it was because it was our first league game and they were trying too hard. I’m not too sure, but we were certainly too frantic.

“That can be the result of having a young team but is also caused by the opposition. Ayr were strong, organised and denied us space and that makes you hurry passes. It’s not just down to what you do.

“But we have to be calmer and improve the quality of our passing, and if we can do that tomorrow then we should have more control of the game.

“We want to improve these things as the season goes on and we are young — but you can’t say that every week. It’s about how quickly you learn.

“We’ve got a good number of talented players who didn’t play to their potential, and that’s ultimately what we’re going to try and do tomorrow.

“At training we’ve tried to emphasise the need for the players to be more relaxed on the ball. To do the simple things: bring the ball under control, passing it quickly and effectively and move into space.

“Those are the things you do day in and day out at training — but they weren’t too evident last week. We’ll need to have a lot more players closer to their top form this week.” The first round of results in League One included three low scoring draws and two narrow home victories.

Duffy says that served to show how tight the division will be this term and that clubs like Stranraer will not come to Cappielow and surrender the three points without giving it everything they’ve got.

He added: “Stranraer were the surprise package in League One last season. Stevie Aitken has done a fantastic job there. They finished third last season and they’ll be looking to emulate that.

“Their front two — Martin Grehan and Jamie Longworth — in particular were very, very good together, but they had a really good footballing side.

“Obviously Grehan has moved on and Craig Malcolm has come in, but I think they will be a real test tomorrow.

“I think you could write the same script for every game. Last week, there was a goalless draw, two 1-1 draws and two 1-0 wins in this division.

“And I think that a lot of the goals were even scored late on. The games were very tight, and I think it emphasised how difficult it will be to win matches in this division.” Despite losing away at Ayr last week, Morton have won both competitive cup matches played at Cappielow this term and Duffy is confident his side can be a force to be reckoned with on home turf.

He said: “From our point of view, we are at home. Ultimately, you get the same three points for an away win as you do for a home win — but a strong home record is vital.

“It gets the fans behind you, gives you belief and puts a bit of doubt in the opposition’s mind when they come to play you.

“We want to get off and running at home as quickly as possible and the best way to do that is to start well against Stranraer and kick-start our league season.”