MORTON face the first of two tricky-looking fixtures in a row when they welcome league leaders Dundee to Cappielow tomorrow.

The clash with the Dark Blues will be followed by a long away trip to another of the teams tipped for promotion, Inverness Caley, so Dougie Imrie and his men have their work cut out for them over the next eight days.

They had been hoping to make it three games undefeated last Saturday when they travelled to Fife to face Raith Rovers, but it was not to be as they slipped to a 2-1 defeat.

There was very little to choose between the two sides but while Morton may feel aggrieved at leaving Stark's Park empty-handed, ultimately they shot themselves in the foot.

Two pieces of slack defending cost them dearly - both were ruthlessly punished with good finishes and from then on it was always going to be an uphill battle.

Lapses from Darragh O'Connor and Jaze Kabia were pinpointed by boss Imrie after the game - the former's hesitancy and a lack of concentration from the latter not tracking his man proving costly.

These young players will hopefully learn quickly from their individual mistakes and improve for making them.

Overall it was a frustrating way for the game to pan out as Morton had not only contained the hosts pretty well in the first half, they also carved out the best two opportunities.

Jack Baird should have done better than head Jai Quitongo's right wing cross over the bar from close range and Robbie Muirhead saw his low left foot shot from a tight angle well saved by Jamie MacDonald.

His counterpart at the other end, Brian Schwake, was a virtual spectator and during the break the visitors would have been confident of at least getting a draw or possibly snatching all three points.

They looked to have lost their way in the wake of conceding the goals only to then stage a late rally, with Cameron Blues' smart glancing header from a good inswinging Muirhead free kick raising hopes of a comeback.

But they huffed and puffed after that and never really troubled Rovers' goal, save for a last gasp shot which Alexander King sliced off target on the half volley under pressure from a defender.

Ton now need to dust themselves down and bounce back from their first league defeat to the campaign, but it will be difficult against a Dundee side which has just posted two wins on the bounce.

Gary Bowyer's men have recovered quickly from their opening day defeat to Partick Thistle with wins in Kirkcaldy and at home to Arbroath in a Friday night thriller.

On paper they have just about the strongest squad in the division, which you would expect from a side which has just come down from the top flight.

The Dark Blues have a lots of good attacking options with the technically excellent pair of Luke McCowan and Paul McMullan and poacher Zak Rudden likely to prove a real handful for most teams at this level.

Morton's defence will be tested by them and will have to be more resilient and concentrated than it proved last weekend.

But if Bowyer's side look strong at the top of the pitch, they are less so at the back and have one or two question marks against them having shipped three goals to Thistle and another two against the Red Lichties.

That will give Ton some encouragement that if they can tighten up and keep the back door closed, they may be able to fashion some opportunities and hurt them.

The key to the game may well lie in the middle of the park though - that is where Morton need to try and make life difficult for Dundee, disrupt their fluency and get a bit of control if they can.

It remains to be seen whether the manager will have any new faces in the door in time for the fixture as we edge towards the transfer window deadline at the end of the month.

Since the departure of Kyle Jacobs three weeks ago to free up wages there has been no movement, which suggests Ton may be waiting for other clubs to decide to move players out on loan.

As things stand, they definitely look a couple of bodies light if they are to be as competitive as everyone connected with the club would like.

Midfield and the central striking area look the two principal areas in need of reinforcement, but with money very tight and lots of competition for players, it will not be an easy task to augment and improve this inexperienced squad.

The same goes for the next sequence of games, and ideally Ton wouldn't have been going into them off the back of a defeat.

They will now need to raise their game and run their socks off if they are to dig something out from these tough matches and avoid the risk of becoming stuck in a mini-rut.