IT’S been a terrific week’s work for Morton — and now they will be determined to round things off by claiming another victory on their second trip to Airdrie in a matter of days.

A midweek mission in North Lanarkshire saw them move through to the fourth round of the Scottish Cup, booking a fourth round clash in late November against Spartans in Edinburgh.

They won’t take anything for granted, of course, but it is a tie which presents them with a good opportunity of going deeper into a competition which has really opened up after the draw threw many of the country’s top sides together.

With that in mind, Tuesday’s win was important and the management team and players deserve credit for recording such a solid away success.

After all, this was a tie where they’d been in real danger of slipping out of the competition during a dismal goalless draw at Cappielow.

Airdrie would doubtless have been quietly confident after taking it back to their own park and Ton can be pleased that they managed to turn things around, especially when they were without a number of important players.

Joe McKee, Declan McManus, Robbie Crawford and Mark Russell all missed out for one reason or another, and the players who came in to replace them certainly stepped up to the plate.

The match was also notable for the fact that it saw Andy Barrowman notch twice, taking his tally to three in his last two games.

The big striker is viewed by his manager Jim Duffy as an influential figure in terms of providing a focal point at the top of the pitch, and bringing essential experience, but all centre forwards are ultimately judged on goals and Barrowman will be feeling a lot better about himself now that he is on a little run.

It got under way when he deftly buried the clincher in last Saturday’s vital victory against table-toppers Forfar at Cappielow, which took Ton to within a point of the leaders.

They’d gone into the game with questions to answer after their poor showing the previous week, and came up with all the right answers.

From the first whistle, the Greenock men played with real intensity, showing the drive that had been sorely missing seven days beforehand.

Where they had failed to establish any controlled possession in their initial cup meeting against Airdrie and played with little or no purpose, the way they set about Forfar immediately showed that they meant business. In many ways, their display was similar to the one which swept Dunfermline aside in September and the feeling is that when Morton play at this kind of tempo, no one else in League One can match it.

Saturday showed that they have the legs, energy and ability to go up a gear and when they do that it can make a telling difference. Forfar had only been beaten once until they rolled into town but they could have no complaints about the final outcome after being thoroughly outplayed by their hosts.

Evidently not used to that horrible losing feeling, their sense of frustration was all too visible in the latter stages of the game and culminated in a fully-merited red card for Jim Paterson’s disgraceful forearm smash which burst the back of Jordan Allan’s head.

While graciously acknowledging that his team had been well beaten on the day, Loons boss Dick Campbell did himself no credit by shamefully criticising Allan instead of his own player, who had simply lost the rag and committed what looked like a pre-meditated act.

One of the key figures in his team’s downfall was young Jon Scullion, who was introduced to the Morton team for his first start, and has all of a sudden played himself right into the plans. The former St Mirren youth repaid the faith shown in him with an excellent show which brought the breakthrough goal and earned him the man of the match plaudits.

The manager’s decision to deploy him off the front two was a smart and shrewd move, freeing him from the clutches of Darren Dods and Stuart Malcolm, the twin giants at the heart of Campbell’s defence.

Playing ‘in the hole’, Scullion was instead free to roam and make life uncomfortable for the Forfar rearguard.

His presence seemed to not only unsettle them, but encourage his colleagues to get the ball played into feet.

The crowd instantly took to the diminutive youngster’s adroit and busy style of play and, after impressing again in midweek, he seems likely to keep his starting berth tomorrow.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the pitch, the defence and Ton goalkeeper Derek Gaston — who drew admirable post-match praise on Saturday from opposite number and ex-Scotland man Rab Douglas — can be very pleased with their recent work. Tuesday night marked three clean sheets in a row and this is something which can be a key building block in Morton’s attempts to discover the kind of consistency they want. They are now unbeaten in four and can keep the momentum up with another win at the Excelsior Stadium tomorrow, although the task is possibly made a bit more difficult by the fact that the clubs have already met this week and Gary Bollan’s men will be desperate to turn the tables on them.

As the sides prepare for their third meeting in quick succession, the familiarity factor might have an impact on proceedings too.

But Morton have the luxury of being able to reintroduce on-loan ace McManus, left, who was ruled out of the cup clashes by parent club Aberdeen.

His return can maybe give the visitors the fresh edge they need to keep their opponents guessing and get them on the back foot once again.

TEAM LATEST MORTON will tomorrow welcome back playmaker Joe McKee after a two-match ban along with top scorer Declan McManus, who is available again after Aberdeen refused to give permission for him to play in the Scottish Cup.

McManus was set to link up with the Scotland Under-21 squad today ahead of their trip to Switzerland for Tuesday’s international friendly in Thun, but there has been a change of plan and Jim Duffy expected McManus to be able to play against the Diamonds at the time of going to press.

Back-up goalkeeper Nicolas Caraux, however, is still definitely sidelined. The Frenchman has a groin problem and the club are waiting on the results of a scan to determine whether or not it is a hernia.

Elsewhere, Ton could be without a host of players who are suffering from a variety of ailments. Robbie Crawford (calf), Mark Russell (tendonitis of the knee), Ricki Lamie (foot), David McNeil (groin), Jordan Allan (knee), Reece Hands (gluteal strain) and Thomas O’Ware, who was left with a golf-ball sized lump on his shin after a bruising cup tie in midweek, are all doubtful.

And while midfielder McKee is free from suspension, he is also nursing a rib injury and will be assessed prior to tomorrow’s rematch with the Diamonds.

TRAVEL NOTES THE Albert Hotel Morton Supporters are now taking bookings for the bus to the Excelsior Stadium for the Scottish League One match against Airdrie.

The bus will leave the hotel at 1.15pm.

All are welcome with pick-ups available en-route.

To book a seat call or text Jim on 07983 600945.

Please note that the Gourock Tartan Army still have a limited number of seats for tonight’s European Championships qualifying match against Ireland and Tuesday’s friendly against England. Both these buses will leave the Albert Hotel, Gourock, at 6pm.

All are welcome with pick-ups available en-route. To book a seat you can call or text Jim on the above number.

THE Lighthouse Morton Travel Club bus to Airdrie will leave from the Lighthouse Bar at 1.15pm.

Any visitors wishing to travel and who want to book a seat can phone or text David on 07719 548046. The club are also taking names for the Scottish Cup tie away to Spartans on Saturday 29 November.

THE Greenock Morton Supporters’ Club bus to Airdrie leaves the club at 1pm. To book a seat phone the club on 01475 888273, email gmsctravelsection@hotmail.com or leave a message on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GMSCTravel THE POW supporters’ club bus to Airdrie will leave the bar at 1.45pm.

To book seats call Fitz on 07500 925650.