WHAT a difference a couple of weeks makes.

Morton travel to Ayr tomorrow off the bottom of the league and in buoyant mood after finally breaking their home league duck in spectacular style by dismantling Dunfermline 5-0.

In just a matter of weeks since his appointment new manager Dougie Imrie has made a big impact, both on and off the pitch.

When he arrived, morale and confidence was lower than a snake's belly and it seemed like Ton needed major surgery just to stand a chance of turning things around and avoiding the drop.

Very quickly, the boss has changed the atmosphere around Cappielow and raised the mood amongst the support.

Imrie hasn't just lifted the team off the foot of the table, he's more or less got the club off its knees from the downbeat malaise it had slumped into.

In recent years an expect the worst/know your place mentality has been allowed to creep in when it comes to Morton's status in the second tier and prospects on the field.

It has not so much been a case of reasonably managing expectations as suffocating them completely, to the extent that a culture of failure had almost become accepted.

From day one, Imrie has been keen to stress that performances and results until now have been unacceptable, drawing an immediate line in the sand by demanding higher standards and a more ambitious mindset.

His optimistic outlook has struck a chord with supporters, who had long ago become disillusioned on a diet of turgid performances and poor results under successive short-term managers.

More importantly, he has galvanised a group of players who were at a low ebb, coaxing an instant improvement from them and also helping to heal the rift which had developed with a fractious fanbase in recent months.

But perhaps the most encouraging aspect of his tenure so far has been the fact he recognises that this is just a good start, nothing more, and that his players need to keep going.

Imrie clearly recognises that it is very early days, with the club remaining in a dangerous position in the table, and he is already putting his own stamp on the squad with Jamie Brandon arriving on loan from Hearts this week and more new arrivals set to follow.

There appears to be no chance of complacency setting in, or the dressing room prematurely believing that they have turned the corner.

This will be important point over the weeks and months ahead, as we are only two games into Imrie's tenure.

While the draw at Kilmarnock and thrashing of the Pars were hugely encouraging in different ways, there will undoubtedly be bumps in the road and Ton have to take it one step at a time.

However their confidence levels should be soaring after last Saturday's result and display and that alone could be a huge factor in their bid to climb the table.

It was such a breath of fresh air to see the way Ton pressed their opponents and set about taking the game to them, rather than cautiously trying to avoid defeat and hoping for the best.

They played with a vigour and belief that simply swept the Pars away, with the calibre of some of the goals very impressive indeed.

Everyone played their part but a special mention goes to the quartet of Gary Oliver, Cameron Blues, Reece Lyon and Gavin Reilly for powerhouse performances which were crucial in overwhelming the hapless Fifers.

In particular it was pleasing to see the latter assisting, getting on the scoresheet and being taken off to a standing ovation from the restricted capacity 500 crowd.

Reilly has had to toil manfully for little reward since his arrival on loan from Livingston last year but finally got his reward with a breakthrough which will hopefully now see him kick on.

Achieving a degree of consistency is something the manager will want from the group as a whole - they have to go and back last weekend's result up if it is to prove genuinely meaningful.

That task starts with tomorrow's visit to Somerset Park as they face an Ayr United outfit which has also been given an injection of the feelgood factor after defeating league leaders Arbroath.

It meant a winning debut for their new boss Lee Bullen, who will be eager to capitalise on that good start, so Ton face a difficult task and will have to play with the same kind of intensity they showed seven days previously if they want to cut the current four point gap between the sides.

What a pity that such an an important match will be played in an almost empty stadium.

The First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and her Scottish Government could and should have lifted their draconian restrictions regime to allow fans to come back to stadiums this weekend, rather than the entirely arbitrary date of Monday.

But it appears that clubs in the Premiership have taken precedence, with little to no regard shown for their lower league counterparts.