Morton look to get over Dundee disappointment with a win

Dougie Imrie's men sit sixth in the Championship, four points adrift of the last available slot and also have Ayr United three points ahead of them in fifth.

With only nine points to play for, it would take a highly unusual set of circumstances for them to prevail from here, particularly when you look at the respective fixtures for each of the clubs involved in the race.

Morton could collect a full house from their meetings with Raith Rovers, Queen's Park and Cove Rangers and still conceivably miss out, showing just how much of a tall order they are facing.

With the top two out of sight and fighting it out for the Championship trophy, Ton have been bypassed by a resurgent Inverness in recent weeks and have it all to do if they are to overhaul both Thistle and Ayr from here, especially when goal difference is taken into the equation.

It may not be arithmetically impossible, but to even call it a long shot would be verging on naive.

And yet for a long time last Saturday it looked like the Greenock men had not only forced their way back into contention but had also blown the title race wide open into the bargain.

They travelled to Tayside already written off by most observers ahead of their clash with Dundee, only to give the league leaders an almighty scare.

There was much to admire about their performance but the afternoon ended in anguish when they blew a two goal lead to squander what could have been a pivotal win.

Dundee have not been able to cope with the Ton this term and despite their surge to the top of the table in recent weeks they found themselves back in the same boat and behind thanks to a fine piece of skill from Darragh O'Connor.

The Dark Blues levelled before the break and would then have expected to kick on at home and take a stranglehold on proceedings, but they were made to think again during a pulsating second half that took the Greenock men from ecstasy to agony.

First Robbie Muirhead curled home a magnificent free-kick and then Jack Baird made it 3-1 shortly afterwards with a diving header to put the visiting support in dreamland.

With 25 minutes still left it was never going to be straightforward to see the game out but Morton had only conceded a solitary goal to Gary Bowyer's side all season, and their overall record shows they have defended strongly throughout the campaign.

Not here though, more's the pity.

They shipped two poor goals to bad defending from set plays, with the equaliser a gut-wrenching moment arriving with 94 minutes on the clock.

It was a cruel ending but ultimately Morton only have themselves to blame, with poor game management, bad individual decision-making and a lack of concentration undoing them.

This was another painful lesson for them and the tenor of Dougie Imrie's post-match interviews would suggest that he feels lessons are not being learned.

While he extolled the virtues of his team's hard work and endeavour he also made it plain that his patience has run out with some people's inability to do the basics.

It was a real shame that they couldn't hold on for what would have been a hard earned victory that could have given them momentum to progress and push back into the top four.

No wonder Imrie could only slump onto a trackside hoarding with his head in his hands at the sight of that late leveller.

The players will have picked themselves up in training during the week and the aim now simply has to be to finish the season as strongly as possible.

Two consecutive home games offer the team the chance to go out on a high in front of their own support before the final fixture on the road.

If Ton's play-off dream looks all but over it is still vital they try and finish as high up the table as they can.

Raith will arrive at Cappielow looking to half the deficit between the two sides and Morton have every incentive to end the possibility of being caught by them.

Slipping down the table would come at a financial cost and it would also mar what has in the main been a decent and improved season up until now.

The only way to do themselves justice is to go out and secure a good points return from their remaining fixtures.