MORTON will kick off the new year by welcoming Ayr United to Cappielow for a crucial Championship clash on Monday.

The Greenock men go into the game fourth in the league and sitting just two points behind their rivals, who have slipped off the summit following defeats to Partick Thistle and Dundee.

Ton start 2023 having stretched their unbeaten run to 10 games, courtesy of last Friday's eventful 2-2 draw against Raith Rovers.

It is an achievement they can be justifiably proud of, but the task now is to try and build on the excellent progress they have made so far.

Halfway through the campaign, they have put themselves in a good position but now face two acid tests in quick succession which will be a good barometer of where they are at.

Following the visit of first-foots United on Monday, they will then have to travel to Firhill for a clash against resurgent Thistle.

After these two matches we will have a much clearer picture of how well placed Dougie Imrie's men are placed to maintain their top half push between now and May.

Things are getting interesting with pre-season favourites Dundee hitting their stride and taking over as league leaders, and Partick back in the fold after ending a barren run of form to close out 2022 with two wins and a draw.

Just four points now separate the top five and it is all to play for, with January promising to be an important month on and off the pitch.

With a clutch of big games coming up the transfer window also opens - and the teams who are in a position to go and strengthen will add to their squads.

Ton have already been linked with ex-Celtic youngster Calvin Miller, who the Tele revealed had been training with the squad at Parklea in recent weeks.

But they will also be looking to hold on to what they already have and will want to secure the services of Liam Grimshaw beyond next month, with the short term deal the former Motherwell man signed back in September now set to expire.

After taking a few weeks to get up to match sharpness, he has proved himself an excellent addition who has brought a bit of quality and versatility.

His solid showings will also have attracted the attention of other clubs, but hopefully Ton can fend off any outside interest.

While January will not be a defining month it is fair to say that it could go a long way towards deciding who can keep up the pace in the promotion chase and which teams will fall by the wayside.

There were encouraging signs of staying power for Ton in their last outing, with the share of the spoils they secured at Kirkcaldy a decent night's work all things considered.

Their overall performance was a bit of a mixed bag but they showed good character to dig in and come back from going two goals down early on away from home.

It's easy to take it for granted now, but rewind just over a year and this would have been exactly the sort of night when Morton would have folded like a knackered old deckchair.

They are a different animal entirely under Imrie and refused to lie down, with goals by Jack Baird and Robbie Muirhead earning them a point and keeping their undefeated run going.

Uncharacteristically, Morton were a bit ragged-looking at the back during the dramatic first half, with Brian Schwake, Efe Ambrose and Baird all suffering individual errors and the backline a bit wobbly as a whole.

Things settled down after the break and Ton had a measure of control in the match until changes made by Rovers sparked a late flurry which meant that the final whistle was a welcome sound.

The manager will be looking for his side to tighten things up a bit after making it seven games without recording a clean sheet.

They had racked up four in a row prior to that and Imrie will want to get back to basics and reintroduce that mean streak and make life difficult for opposition attackers.

Ayr certainly have one in league top scorer Dipo Akinyemi, who has shown he can work a goal out of almost nothing - he netted on his last visit to Cappielow and will have to be watched like a hawk.

The prolific striker and his team-mates are hurting following the recent setbacks they have had.

The Honest Men will want to show they can respond to them, and might be best treated as a bit of a wounded animal at the moment.

Morton will need to be wary of them hitting back strongly and must look to impose themselves on this game from the start - hopefully with a noisy Cowshed pushing them on in what is the first fixture to be played at Cappielow since late November.