JONATAN Johansson was left frustrated as another set-piece goal was Morton’s undoing against Inverness Caley Thistle on Saturday.

The Ton made a brighter start than in recent weeks, but Caley’s first corner led to a simple goal, with Carl Tremarco heading home at the front post after just 11 minutes.

It was the Cappielow outfit’s fifth goal conceded from a set-piece in their last seven games, a clear weakness that Johansson had identified before the game.

But the Ton boss was left disappointed at his side’s inability to deal with the danger from free-kicks and corners and also bemoaned his side’s lack of cutting edge in the final third.

He told the Tele: “The performance was disappointing in the way that we started out nicely.

“We caused them some problems without creating clear-cut chances and then we lost another goal to a set-play.

“That’s been our Achilles’ heel lately and after that I felt the workrate was good, we won the ball quite a lot in midfield at times to counter-attack but that spark wasn’t there to cause them problems in the final third.

“The set-plays have been a problem for us. We conceded two against East Fife and five of our last seven goals have been from set-plays.

“We are a small side but I think set-plays are from a mental side, they need to be stronger and stand up to your man even if he’s bigger than you.

“It’s something we have been talking about a lot last week as Inverness score a lot of goals from set-pieces.

“It was a tough one to take and a tough one that we didn’t have more spark in the final third.

“We had the ball a lot in the final third in the box, but that proactive approach, going for rebounds and shooting when you’re in a position, taking someone on or smashing in a cross, that wasn’t there.

“Even from our own set plays, and that has a little bit to do with the run we’re on, losing a goal you could feel from some players that didn’t have that spark and that’s disappointing.

“You couldn’t fault the players for anything else, their workrate, the shape and the way they wanted to win, but sometimes in this league you need that nasty side and that dirty side to turn these games into wins, and in the last couple of games we haven’t had that.”

The Ton dropped to seventh in the Championship after the loss, with a crucial game against Queen of the South up next for Johansson’s side tomorrow.

Queens are level on points with Morton and have seen a similar drop in form in recent weeks.

Falkirk, Partick Thistle and Alloa Athletic have all closed the gap on the rest of the table in recent weeks, and Morton are now just five points off the bottom of the table.

But Johansson says he’s fully focussed on what is happening on the pitch.

He added: “You always look both ways. I try not to look at the table too much, I try to look at the performances, but of course going into the last quarter of the season now and the teams below have been investing a lot and now the league is starting to get extremely tight.

“The only ones who are going to change what happens are the players on the pitch and the coaching staff, there’s no hiding away and no excuses in the next game.”