Morton set for must-win match away against Ayr United

You don't need to take my word for that, just ask manager Dougie Imrie.

He rightly acknowledged straight after last Saturday's loss to Inverness that his team's play-off push was in last chance saloon.

The Greenock men had gone into the game looking for a victory that would have pushed them closer to their rivals above them and eliminated Caley from the equation.

But a second half of sliding doors moments left them empty handed and sees the Highlanders now snapping at their heels.

The fat lady isn't singing just yet but she is beginning to clear her throat and only wins will do now for Morton if they are to regain a place inside the top four.

Amid the gloom which enveloped Cappielow just before 5pm six days ago, it's worth remembering that the situation is not irretrievable just yet.

Ton are five and six points adrift of Partick Thistle and tomorrow's opponents respectively but they still hold a game in hand - which will be played on Tuesday night against Hamilton.

To keep that home clash a genuinely meaningful one they have to get the right result at Somerset Park tomorrow and that means bringing an end to a hugely damaging barren sequence.

A run of five matches without a win has yielded just three points - the worst form line in the league apart from the freefalling Cove Rangers, who have slipped to the bottom of the table.

It can't be ignored either that Inverness's win at the weekend consigned Ton to what was a fifth league defeat of the season at home, a pretty mediocre record by anyone's standards.

Can they turn things around with just six games to go?

The odds are lengthening, but they have shown before they can go on the kind of run they will need.

Even in last week's match the outcome came down to very fine margins.

They were on top in the first half against a Caley side which looks back to its best, and could have been a couple of goals ahead with Calum Watters and Robbie Muirhead both foiled by good saves before the latter's audacious chip from almost 40 yards went just over the bar, while Ali Crawford missed another gilt-edged chance from close range.

Even when Scott Allardice inflicted a bodyblow by opening the scoring just after the break the hosts rallied and got their reward when Muirhead was fouled in the box and won them a penalty which was converted emphatically by Grant Gillespie.

The stage seemed set for them to complete the comeback by going on to win and the moment looked to have arrived when Muirhead arrowed a long range free kick towards goal with three minutes remaining.

But with Mark Ridgers beaten all ends up the ball crashed off the bar, down and out to safety and the coup de grâce was delivered at the other end 60 seconds later when they got caught on the break as David Carson burst into space to drive a low shot home under Brian Schwake.

It was a gut-wrenching climax but in the end Morton only have themselves to blame.

Just like at Gayfield last month they failed to make their dominance count by not converting and then switched off late on to concede.

While the manager praised the positive aspects of the performance he was scathing about the shortcomings which proved fatal, speaking of players ignoring instructions handed to them from analysis in training during the week, of failing to track runners and the team being 'one or two men short' with people 'not wanting to work' in the second half.

There certainly were alarming gaps right across the middle of the pitch, which exemplified the often-overlooked importance of Cameron Blues - who had gone off at half-time with a head knock - to the team.

You can take it as read there will be changes tomorrow for what will be a difficult assignment against another side looking to bounce back from a loss last weekend.

This is crunch time - Ayr know they can consolidate their place and simultaneously all but end Morton's hopes tomorrow.

They are unbeaten against them this season so Morton are going to have to defy that trend to stop their season from petering out - they are capable of doing it but now have to deliver when it counts.