RICKI Lamie reckons the camaraderie created by having a car full on the daily commute through to training is helping foster a great team spirit at Morton.

The defender squeezes in beside Derek Gaston, Lee Kilday, Stefan Milojevic and Declan McManus on their journey from Lanarkshire to Parklea on weekday mornings.

And although Lamie says the banter is terrible, the travel has brought the squad closer together as a group and created bonds that are reflected on the park as well as off it.

He told the Tele: “I car share with a few of the guys. There’s myself, Lee, Derek, big Stefan, and Dec McManus is jumping in with us too now. It’s a busy motor!

“We have five bodies, a full car, and it’s a tight squeeze — but there’s not much patter! I need to produce. I think somebody puts Lee Kilday on mute; he does more sleeping than talking. With the big Serb, it’s hard enough to get English out of him at the best of times. Gats tries his best. I’m not saying it’s good patter, but at least he tries.

“You have another car full with Andy Barrowman, Reece [Hands], the McCluskey brothers and wee [Conor] Pepper.

“It’s a great thing to have. There are squads that don’t mix much and travel in separately. We get to spend a wee bit of time with each other and it’s good for morale. It brings the group together.” The ex-Airdrie defender is desperate to be fit to face his former club today as he looks to help Morton end a run of three consecutive defeats. He was forced off at half-time in last weekend’s 1-0 Petrofac Training Cup quarter-final loss to Alloa Athletic due to a recurring back problem.

Lamie admits he hated watching helplessly from the sidelines in the second half and hopes to be able to play his part when the Diamonds come to Cappielow this afternoon.

He added: “I was sitting all day last Sunday last week hoping the old back would be all right so I could be in contention today. It’s a game you always want to play in.

“I have a problem with my lower back that affects me now and again. It’s one of those wee niggling ones.

“I’ve had it the last three or four years and it only really bothers me at this time in the season for some reason. I aggravated it in the build-up to the Alloa game, but it was feeling fine on Thursday and Friday and in the warm up on Saturday, so I thought I’d give it a go.

“But I went up for a header about 10 or 15 minutes into the game and the way I twisted when I landed aggravated it again.

“The manager and I both knew at half-time that I wasn’t 100 per cent and it would be a case of having to get someone else on the pitch.

“I always try and fight through things, and my mum actually said to me after the game that she was surprised I don’t try to play on. But making the right decision comes with a bit of maturity. I knew myself that it wasn’t going to help anyone, especially not in such a big game. It would have been detrimental to the team.

“There’s nothing worse than watching when you can’t play, be it injury, suspension or whatever.

“You can’t influence things. I hate it.

“But I’ve had a wee bit more treatment this week, done my stretches and taken precautions and it’s definitely helped. “I don’t want to tempt fate and say I’ll definitely be available but I feel ready and raring to go. I’m hopeful I’ll be involved.”