THE tough challenges just keep on coming for Morton as they travel north this weekend and go fishing for precious points in the port of Peterhead.

Jim Duffy’s promotion-chasers have faced a sequence of testing fixtures lately and thus far they can be very pleased with how well they have coped.

A quick recap of their recent form suggests that they are putting together an important run of results at just the right time.

It began with an away draw against bogey team Ayr United which was followed up by a crucial victory at Cappielow in the televised game with Dunfermline.

Ton then showed real resolve on two successive away trips to Angus, grafting their way to a 2-1 win in Forfar and then digging in to secure a share of the spoils against Brechin.

This set the scene nicely for last Saturday’s top-of-the-table clash at home to league leaders Stranraer.

While it was not a must-win fixture, it was one which the Greenock men could not afford to lose.

In the end they came through it with everything they wanted; a solid performance, three points and a clean sheet.

They are now breathing right down the neck of their title rivals, just a point adrift, and deserve real credit for the fine form they have shown.

Tomorrow’s visit to Balmoor is another tricky assignment but you only need to look at the aforementioned spell of fixtures to see that Morton are relishing their work right now — and getting a lot of difficult games out of the road.

Unbeaten in six, from a defensive point of view they look more convincing than at any other point during the season, a perception backed up by the fact that they have conceded just three times in over 450 minutes of football.

Up front, they are well equipped to hurt any side in the division and were able to shrug off the absence of key man Peter MacDonald to defeat the table-toppers last weekend.

There was much to like about their overall display — this was a win which definitely came into the hard-fought category.

Stranraer were expected to be difficult opponents and that’s exactly how it proved.

They started the game on the front foot and there were spells in the first half where they looked assured and comfortable.

This was enough to disturb the notoriously hair-trigger temperament of Morton’s home support, who immediately became edgy and were not slow to let the players know about it. Their impatience did little to help the team, who found it difficult to settle into any pattern of play, frequently and needlessly coughing up possession.

But they gradually found a foothold before forcing a rare mistake from Stevie Aitken’s outfit, and the goal which followed from Declan McManus was to prove decisive.

After the interval the Blues again enjoyed a lot of the ball but credit goes to the Ton defence for the resolute way in which they held firm.

Ricki Lamie continues to impress in his natural central defensive position and was ably assisted by a no-nonsense display from partner Sean Crighton.

Derek Gaston meanwhile was alert to the only substantive danger he faced after the break, a fierce Chris Aitken snapshot which he was able to paw away.

Ahead of them, the home side benefited from industrious performances from Thomas O’Ware and the Ross Forbes, right, who was for me the most accomplished player on the pitch.

These collective contributions laid the foundations for Ton to wrap things up late on, courtesy of a fine goal from young Mark Russell — a player of real potential who is improving rapidly and has a big chance to go far in the game.

Over the piece it was a merited win — although ex-Ton midfielder Aitken didn’t see it that way, claiming afterwards that the best team had lost.

In my view this statement was a bit too emphatic — while Stranaer did have control for significant passages of play, their possession lacked purpose and it was almost always in areas where they were not going to do much harm.

Their failure to make an impression was only emphasised when they resorted to going direct in the latter stages.

Where Aitken did have it correct was in saying that it will take a good team to knock his men off the top of the table — they are a strong outfit who deserve every respect and they will likely bounce back quickly from the disappointment they obviously feel about Saturday’s result.

But Ton are in a good place at the moment as they build up a head of steam for the run-in.

They will need every bit of the confidence which comes along with that as they get ready for what promises to be another searching examination tomorrow afternoon from the Blue Toon.

A draw at Balmoor would keep the momentum going and be far from the worst result in the world — but Duffy’s men have their tails up at the present moment and you can be assured that they will be going out to net all three points.

TEAM LATEST JIM Duffy expects to have a clean bill of health for tomorrow’s trip to Peterhead barring any unforeseen injuries in training today.

Skipper Peter MacDonald’s recovery from a back problem is going according to plan and he could be included against the Blue Toon.

Joe McKee (hamstring) and Michael Miller (knee) are minor doubts but should be available.

However, defender Ricki Lamie will miss out through suspension after a caution picked up at Brechin took him through the disciplinary points barrier.

TRAVEL NOTES THE Morton Supporters’ Club bus to Peterhead leaves the club at 9.30am with pick-ups en-route.

To book a seat phone the club on 01475 888273. You can email gmsctravelsection@hotmail.com or leave a message on their Twitter at https://twitter.com/GMSCTravel THE Albert Hotel Morton Supporters are taking bookings for tomorrow’s Scottish League One game at Balmoor Stadium against Peterhead. The coach will leave the hotel at 10am and pick-ups are available en-route. To book a seat call or text Jim on 07983 600945.