Only a win will do for Morton as play-off push reaches crunch

Going into the dying embers of a long campaign the Greenock men are still not out of the play-off race, even though they are in sixth position in the Championship.

Indeed it bears noting they are only eight points behind league leaders Dundee at this late stage, which is a fair barometer of how well their season has gone overall.

Another positive indicator lies in the fact that they enter their final two matches with 11 points more than what they ended 2021-22 with.

They clambered on to that total last Saturday courtesy of a hard-fought 1-0 win over Raith Rovers, with the result just about keeping them in the hunt.

At one stage Ton were on the cusp of enjoying a very good afternoon indeed, with Inverness a goal down until the latter stages of their game and Partick trailing in injury time.

But both of their rivals were able to salvage draws and those points may well prove pivotal in the end as they look to lock both Ton and fifth-placed Ayr United out.

The Greenock men are four adrift of the Highlanders as it stands but they do hold a game in hand, with Billy Dodds' side not playing again until the final Friday night fixtures.

Thistle meanwhile, for all that they have stuttered over the last fortnight, retain a two point advantage and also have a superior goal difference in their favour too.

To mix sporting lexicons for a second, Morton are still needing snookers in their bid to make the frame and break into the top four at the death.

All Dougie Imrie's men can do is try and win their final two matches and cross their fingers that keeping the pressure on might force one of the clubs above them to crack.

It seems unlikely but they have at least kept things alive and given themselves a chance going into the last 180 minutes of football.

Their victory last Saturday ensures they will finish no lower than sixth, which will better their rank of seventh when the dust settled a year ago.

They are clearly moving in the right direction under Imrie, even if there may be a pang of regret that they could ultimately miss out on the play-off which he feels they should have secured this term.

Their penultimate game of the campaign pits them against Queen's Park, who of course have an even bigger prize still to chase.

They are only a point off the top and will be absolutely desperate to keep in touch with Dundee ahead of what could, depending on the outcome of this weekend's matches, become a dramatic title decider at their temporary Ochilview home a week tonight.

It all sets the scene for what should be a pulsating affair on Sinclair Street tomorrow, with both teams knowing that a win is absolutely imperative to serve their respective agendas.

A draw is realistically no use for either side and that alone should guarantee an open game, even if it might not be of the free-flowing variety due to the highly pressurised stakes.

Playing a side above you in the league wouldn't normally be the go-to opponent of choice at this stage of the season but Morton have dominated their encounters against Queen's this season, winning twice and coming back from 2-0 down to secure a draw in the most recent meeting.

Owen Coyle has made no secret of the fact that he feels his side have been hard done to in taking just one point from Ton, but his post-match comments have betrayed the fact that his side do not relish playing against them.

Morton can take encouragement from that but cannot rely on it alone and if they're to win again then they'll have to play a lot better tomorrow than they did for the majority of the match against Raith.

They were threatening to sweep Rovers away in the early stages after taking the lead in the second minute but couldn't build on that breakthrough, missing chances and then allowing the visitors to feel their way back into the fray.

It became an unnecessarily edgy and tetchy spectacle with Ian Murray's men having two men sent off in the closing stages as they came close but failed to find a leveller.

While the performance level was lacking, the result was the only thing that mattered for Morton and if they could stage a repeat tomorrow then no one will be complaining - and then it will be all eyes on results elsewhere.