MORTON manager Jonatan Johansson says his players are full of confidence heading into today’s vital game against Queen of the South after their performance in midweek.

The Ton bounced back from a 3-0 defeat to Partick Thistle last weekend with a 1-1 draw away to Ayr, going close late on to sneaking a victory.

The Cappielow boss felt his side should have come away with all three points at Somerset Park on Tuesday after a strong second-half display.

Johansson hopes his side can build on that showing away to Queen of the South today.

Queens are only one point below Morton in the table, with both teams only just hovering above the relegation zone. A win for either side would help steer them clear of danger, while a defeat drags them right back into the relegation scrap.

And Johansson says his squad are feeling positive heading down to Dumfries this afternoon.

He told the Tele: “Everything is riding on these games. That’s what football is like, a small 10-team league with this one especially this tight.

“There’s no hiding that, before the Ayr United game we looked at the fixtures and there’s not one game or team that hasn’t got a lot to play for. It’s a crazy league — everybody is fighting for something, every game is tough and obviously the next two games are key for us.

“We said after the Partick game it wasn’t all poor, but we lost some silly goals in the first half and we did have enough about us to get into the second half.

“I was so happy we had a game straight away and that we could get back to our usual play.

“We played quite well in the second half, it was good character from the players. Of course we wanted three points and I felt the players deserved that, but it gives us confidence going into these games, and the players should be 100 per cent up for the games.”

The manager says contract talks are ongoing, but there is unlikely to be any movement given the uncertainty of the Championship table at the moment, with relegation still a threat for Morton.

He added: “Every point is so valuable and so important and it’s difficult for clubs to plan too much as you don’t know where you will be, and that’s totally understandable.

“You can have the best plans in the world and everything changes on the last day of the season.

“We are speaking to people and we’re looking at players as well. 

“We’re moving forward but there’s no contract updates at the moment.

“It has to do with the league position and the budgets as well. 

“Players don’t want to commit at this stage of the season, and you don’t want to commit too much of your budget early on as well.”