MORTON kick off a massive five day period in their season with a last-16 Scottish Cup tie at Motherwell's Fir Park tonight.

The match has been moved to this evening by the SFA in order to avoid a clash with the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral tomorrow, when there will be no mid-afternoon sporting activity.

This rescheduling decision is beneficial to the Greenock club, as it gives them extra recovery time before they take on Hearts in the league at Cappielow on Tuesday.

Normally all eyes would be fully focused on a fourth round Scottish Cup tie but there is no point pretending it's the uppermost item on Morton's agenda over the next few days.

As nice as a cup shock and advancement to the quarter finals would be, from both a financial point and sporting point of view, it comes a distant second to their main goal of Championship survival.

Their midweek clash is of huge importance and one of the most significant fixtures the club has faced in several years.

They will go into their penultimate home league fixture still in the bottom two and with only three games left to avoid the dreaded fate of an end of season play-off which could consign them to League One.

The stakes over their final three league fixtures couldn't be higher and they are going to need a reasonable return of points if they are to clamber out of ninth position to safety.

But at least their fate remains in their own hands and looking at the respective fixture lists their remaining matches - only one away and meeting the clubs sitting 10th and eighth - could have been tougher too.

Hearts have been in indifferent form for some time now and having already clinched the league title they have little to play for on Tuesday other than pride, something which often has the effect of blunting a team's competitive edge.

By the time Ton play their next opponents, Alloa, The Wasps' fate could have been sealed with their minds elsewhere, preparing for life in the third tier.

A win against the bottom club at Cappielow is a non-negotiable must.

Ton will wrap up their campaign with a visit to Arbroath and between now and then they have to ensure they will be in a position to extricate themselves from the end of season shootout.

It looked like they'd taken a giant step towards doing just that on their visit to Dundee last Saturday afternoon.

They were only a couple of minutes away from securing what would have been a priceless victory against James McPake's promotion-chasers - one which would have carried them up to seventh place in the table - only to see it snatched away from them at the death.

Lee Ashcroft's last gasp goal, in tandem with draws for Ayr and Arbroath, had the effect of shoving the Greenock men back down into ninth and with it all to do.

It was a big blow but now that the dust has settled, Gus MacPherson and his men must take heart from their overall performance.

A 1-1 draw is a result they would probably have signed for pre-match, it ensured no one gained ground on them, and it could also still prove to be a crucial point - if they can follow it up.

Ton went into the game off the back of a dreadful result against Inverness but they restored credibility with a doughty, ultra well-organised display which frustrated the in-form Dark Blues.

Their resolute defensive organisation had the effect of turning the match into a non-event - and in the circumstances that was exactly what they were looking for.

When Aidan Nesbitt then slammed them into the lead on a rare counter deep into the second half it appeared that the gameplan was about to be executed to perfection, until that late sucker punch.

Morton must put that disappointment to one side now, draw confidence from their showing and try and carry it on into their remaining games.

Tonight's tie is ultimately a distraction from their main focus and perhaps the most important thing is that they come out of it unscathed with no injuries to key players.

MacPherson will likely need to make one or two changes as he looks to manage his team's workload and ensure they are ready for the really important games which follow.

Fir Park hasn't been a kind venue for Ton in cup competitions over the years, with the 4-0 league cup reverse last season the latest in a series of bruising defeats inflicted on them there.

They have their work cut out for them once again but just like Saturday they will want to show that they can be competitive, and we will see where that takes them before the really big business begins.