MORTON look to return to winning ways tomorrow as they head for Hamilton after dropping out of the promotion play-off slots.

The Greenock men's impressive unbeaten run finally came to an end last weekend via a painful 2-1 defeat against Partick Thistle after 10 league games without losing.

They were unlucky to see the record go, as a scrappy last minute winner from a set piece gave the hosts all three points at the end of a fractious afternoon at Firhill.

Prior to then, the last time they had tasted league defeat was at the same venue at the start of October.

They've performed superbly since then and boss Dougie Imrie was right to try and keep the focus on that at full-time, amid everything else that was going on.

To go for almost a third of the campaign undefeated is no mean feat in an ultra-competitive Championship.

Now the manager will want his players to recognise that they have set standards, as they aim for a fresh good sequence of form to carry them back up the table.

On paper, Morton couldn't have two better league fixtures coming up as they try to bounce back - tomorrow's trip to rock bottom Accies is followed by the visit of ninth-placed Arbroath to Cappielow, with the small matter of a Scottish Cup fourth round tie at Celtic Park sandwiched in between.

This does not mean that points will come easily, especially as their opponents are currently fighting for their lives in the second tier.

But there are undoubtedly more difficult fixtures than these and the sense is that Ton must capitalise on them after taking two points from the last nine.

Clubs around them have gained ground in recent weeks, with Queen's Park on a hot streak, Dundee coming to the boil and Partick enjoying their own resurgence.

Beneath them, Inverness Caley and Raith Rovers are both creeping closer as we enter what looks like being a key period in the promotion race.

After their next two matches we will have a much clearer picture of whether Morton are likely to be contenders in that battle.

They look equipped to play their part in it on the evidence of last Saturday, with an unfortunate own goal depriving them of what would have been a good point on the road.

The Greenock men went into the clash a little rusty after over a fortnight without a game and perhaps that factor, allied to the respective strength in depth of the two squads, proved telling in the end.

But it was also a controversial afternoon where they were left smarting by the performance of referee Alan Muir, who left their players, bench and near 500-strong travelling support incensed.

It was a peculiar display from the start, with the whistler disinclined to give almost any decision against the hosts, and a sense of frustration predictably built up during the first half.

Muir's tolerance of repeated foul play by Brian Graham was particularly noteworthy, along with the failure to penalise the heavy blow to the face which put Efe Ambrose out of the game.

From the visitors' viewpoint it went from bad to worse after the break.

Muir awarded Partick a penalty which almost no one else in the stadium claimed - and for which the video footage is inconclusive - went on to deny Ton two spot kick claims, sent Dougie Imrie to the stand for protesting and allowed pantomime villain Graham to escape unpunished for the inflammatory gestures towards the away support which almost sparked a fight on the pitch at full time.

There is no love lost between both sets of supporters, but things threatened to boil over on the park on a number of occasions and it was largely down to Muir's officiating.

Now the dust has settled, Morton have to take the disappointment on the chin and move on.

Any fair-minded analysis would acknowledge that they were not at their best on the day and contributed to their downfall by dropping deeper as the game went on and making errors, although they could arguably have been helped by additional and earlier substitutions as their tank drained.

But it again goes to show just how difficult Imrie's side are to beat, with only a penalty shootout loss in the SPFL Trust Trophy and a last minute O.G getting the better of them in three months.

What they need to do now is take things up a gear at the other end of the pitch and find the kind of attacking edge which will be required in a fixture like tomorrow's.

To that end the manager has brought in striker Ally Roy on loan from Glentoran - although it remains to be seen if he'll be ready to play a part at New Douglas Park - and he remains in the market for at least one more player who he will hope can add the extra piece of the jigsaw.

Whatever side is sent out against Accies the onus is firmly on Morton to make the running tomorrow and frank the formbook against opponents who sit 19 points adrift of them.