MORTON boss Anton McElhone blasted his side's 'unacceptable' first-half performance after their five-game unbeaten run came to an end at Queen of the South.

McElhone admitted that their display wasn't good enough despite having the lion's share of possession.

He was left frustrated at their defending at set pieces, admitting that the Doonhamers' first-half goals from former Ton trialist Ayo Obileye and Aidan Fitzpatrick were avoidable.

The Ton boss says he plans to shuffle his pack for Wednesday's visit of Inverness Caley Thistle as they look to bounce back from their first defeat of 2021.

He told the Tele: “It was a game of two halves.

“You can’t come down to Palmerston, when Queens are on a good run having won two games and drawn, and play like that in the first half.

“The first half wasn’t acceptable.

“We never dominated the game in a way that we should be doing. Yes, we had maybe the majority of the ball in the first half, but they’re a counter attacking side, who are good from set plays.

“We know Ayo, who was in with us in the summer, and we know that we’ve got to be stronger in working out of possession going forward.

“We made changes in the second half to make things stronger and take the physical game to them to try and turn them over.

“We changed the shape to match them up, but we had enough of the ball in the first half but we didn’t do the basics right, which is what we have been doing so well in recent weeks.

“These guys have been fantastic.

“Out of six games we’ve only lost once. They’ve done everything right and done everything that I’ve asked for.

“Did we deserve a point? The last time we played Queens they could have said that they deserved a point with the chances that they had.

“If you don’t take your chances and when you pride yourself on being very good defensively, it’s unacceptable.

“There was a lack of intensity and energy in the first half."

The Ton boss praised substitutes Rabin Omar and Craig McGuffie who came on to make big impacts in the second half.

McElhone believes that the quick turnaround gives his players the perfect opportunity to get back on track as soon as possible as they get set to face John Robertson's men in midweek.

He said: “Sometimes it takes another player to come in and step up.

“I’ve got to say a massive well done to Rabin Omar, Craig McGuffie and Gary Oliver who all came on and added that much-needed bit of impetus that we needed in the second half.

“We’re going right into another game on Wednesday night against Inverness, so it makes it easier to try and right those wrongs.

“We’ll shuffle the pack a little bit.

“The undefeated run is over but that’s not a bad thing because if anything it lets us know where we're at.

“If you want to go higher in the league you need to do a little bit more of the simple things.”