A BIG game beckons at Cappielow tomorrow as Morton get ready to host early league leaders Ayr United and attempt to draw level with them at the top end of the table.

It's a scenario that not many people would have predicted before the season kicked off, but the Honest Men and Ton have started the 2022-23 Championship season brightly and their clash is undoubtedly game of the day in the second tier.

Morton go into it off the back of a terrific result up at Inverness, a late Grant Gillespie penalty kick claiming all three points in the Highlands.

It was their second successive victory at what has traditionally not been a happy hunting ground for them.

They had only ever won once there until a few months ago and the brace of victories in quick succession underlines the shift in mentality and mindset instilled by Dougie Imrie since he arrived at the club.

The Greenock men are now visiting grounds like this with the explicit aim of winning, rather than apologetically talking up the opposition and adopting a hope-for-the-best mentality - the difference in both attitude and agenda is night and day.

But more importantly, the players are vindicating the belief that the manager has in them and backing it up by delivering results on the pitch.

It's no wonder that Ton supporters were so delighted when the manager extended his contract on the eve of last Friday's trip north.

Tabling a new deal for Imrie was something advocated in these columns before the end of last season, as he'd made a transformational impact on and off the park and this raised the risk of other clubs taking notice.

It's to the credit of the board and owners Morton Club Together that they have been able to get it done.

Good managers are hard to come by and now that Morton have found one, it makes sense to protect themselves by securing his future.

It appears that the new six-figure investment from new stadium sponsors and commercial partners Dalrada Technology has played a big part in convincing Imrie that his immediate future lies at Cappielow and that there are people around the club who have the same level of ambition and hunger to drive it forward as he does.

With increased budget to bring players in and recent positive results, there is a happy atmosphere around the camp and the fanbase at the moment, and long may it continue.

It would be nice to think that the current feelgood factor may persuade a few supporters to return to the fold, as Ton do have the potential to draw bigger home gates than they have been getting in recent times.

There were, understandably in the current climate, only around 100 or so of the hardcore up at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday but they were rewarded handsomely for making the trip.

It was, as had been predicted, another very tight encounter with precious little between the sides, Jai Quitongo coming closest to scoring with a close range shot which was superbly tipped on to the bar by Mark Ridgers.

Just as it seemed like a second successive goalless draw for Ton, they were awarded a penalty when Wallace Duffy handled the ball in the box and up stepped the super-cool Grant Gillespie to despatch another spot kick.

The hosts, as you would expect, staged a late rally in the closing stages and forced a few corners but Morton were never unduly worried and saw the game out pretty comfortably.

The fact that Billy Dodds' men did not force a save worthy of the name from Brian Schwake meant Ton deserved to edge it.

Aside from the result, the fact they recorded a third clean sheet in five games was another big plus point - defensively they are becoming a hard team to unlock and that's always a very encouraging sign.

Darragh O'Connor is looking better with every passing week, Jack Baird beside him has slotted back in like he was never away, Alexander King has been so impressive that he has kept Lewis Strapp out of the side and former Livingston team-mates Schwake and Carlo Pignatiello have quickly established themselves as reliable performers too.

In midfield the trio of Gillespie, Cameron Blues and Robbie Crawford have been getting through a power of work and they are working well as a unit too.

Up top it is true that goals are still proving hard to come by, with two of the very modest total of four notched so far coming from the spot, and Morton will know they have to do more on that front.

The manager has been on the hunt for more creativity and firepower, a search which is still ongoing at the time of writing, and he'd love to find someone who could make the type of impact that tomorrow's visitors have had from their new number nine Dipo Akinyemi.

He has been banging the goals in and at times looked unplayable against Dundee last Friday night as the Somerset Park men recorded a very impressive 3-1 victory that put them top of the pile.

If Morton are going into the game feeling in upbeat mode then Akinyemi and his unbeaten team-mates must be flying, so tomorrow's clash has all the ingredients of being a Cappielow cracker.