MORTON manager Jonatan Johansson hopes his side hit the ground running against Inverness Caley Thistle today.

The Ton head into the match in the Highlands without a win in their last five outings and sit sixth in the table.

But the Caley Jags have been poor at home this season, picking up just two wins on their own patch, with only Falkirk having a worse win record in front of their own fans.

Inverness however have been quick off the mark in the Championship this season, scoring seven goals in the opening 15 minutes of league matches, more than any other team in the division.

The Cappielow outfit in contrast have been slow starters in their recent clashes against Ayr United and Dundee United.

While Ton have put in improved displays in the second period of those games, the manager insists they’ll need to be much better in the first half if they’re to return to Greenock with any points this time.

After a solid 1-1 draw last time his team were up in Inverness, Johansson hopes they can put in a similar performance this time around.

He told the Tele: “I felt we played well there last time. It’s a big pitch, they’ve got some good players that can cause you problems.

“We had a really good shape about us last time. We scored first which helped and I felt pretty comfortable the last time we were up there.

“We have played well in the second half against Dundee United and Ayr United especially, we want to build on that and we want to concentrate on that and cause teams more problems.

“Looking at our last game against Ayr United, they have very good strikers who are very direct, especially in the first half.

“We watched the clips from that yesterday and we could see our mistakes, and with strikers like that they will create something from our mistakes, like they did two or three times. Obviously Robby [McCrorie] had two or three good saves as well, but I agree our second half has been better in both games. But I felt even in the first half of Ayr United we were coming back into the game at the end.

“I felt we were right in there, but the mistakes might have been a little bit of wariness and waiting and probably showing them too much respect.”

Inverness have also had a dip in form lately heading into tomorrow’s clash, having not won a game in their last four outings.

But they picked up a morale-boosting penalty shoot-out victory over Highland rivals Ross County on Tuesday, after the Scottish Cup tie finished 2-2 after extra-time.

The manager says securing their place in the quarter-finals of the competition will give them a boost.

But he admits it might play in the Ton’s favour, with tomorrow’s opponents possibly feeling fatigued from their midweek match.

He added: “It shows that they’re a good side, they drew with Ross County twice and managed to get through to the quarter-final of the cup.

“They did manage to play 120 minutes but they have a big squad and they can change it around.

“They might have one injury doubt in Tom Walsh, but other than that they have quite a big squad they can choose from.

“On one hand they’ll be confident and be in a positive frame of mind, and on the other they’ve had an extra 120 minutes of football, it should be a factor as well.”