MORTON manager Dougie Imrie has challenged his players to kick on from their midweek draw at Rugby Park by going toe to toe with Partick Thistle on Sunday.

The 38-year-old believes that the valuable point gained in Ayrshire on Wednesday night should give his players a lift going into the game.

Ton were compehensively outplayed on their last trip to Maryhill earlier in the season, losing 3-0, and will be looking to atone for that poor performance.

 

Imrie told the Tele: “We’ve got to give Partick all of the respect that they’re due, they’re up at the top end of the table for a reason.

“They’ve had a good season so far but we’ve just been to Rugby Park and picked up a point, so that should give us confidence to go to Firhill and get something from that game as well.

“By all accounts, in the game at Firhill earlier on in the season, Partick were exceptional that day, so we’ll need to be switched on and giving it our all from the first whistle.

“It’s another big pitch where Partick will probably have large spells on the ball.

"We need to be switched on for that and make sure that when we do have the ball, we keep it and when we get opportunities, use the ball effectively and take them.”

The Ton gaffer was pleased to get off to a positive start in Ayrshire and has today challenged his players to carry their second half performance into the final 17 games of the season as he tries to steer them to Championship safety.

He said: “Wednesday night was a massive point and most importantly it got the ball rolling for us as a group before the turn of the year.

"But it’s only one game and we’ve now got to push on from that and for the rest of the games that are coming ahead. 

“It’s a good start for us and over the piece 1-1 was a fair result, to be fair to Kilmarnock they caused us issues in the first half but I think that after we made the changes in the second half we caused them numerous problems and we could’ve nicked it at the end.

“I was nice and relaxed apart from a couple of moments but that’s because sometimes you’re wanting to try and help out the boys as much as you can and find yourself kicking every ball with them. 

“I’m just trying to help them progress as much as possible, so I'll be batting their corner every step along the way and kicking every ball.

"It's a team effort and I'm delighted that we got off to a positive start."