MORTON have opened contract talks with a number of key players as boss Dougie Imrie looks to tie down his stars on extended deals.

In-form strikers Robbie Muirhead and George Oakley are expected to be hot property following their notable goalscoring exploits this season.

Both are out of contract at the beginning of June, along with other influential players like Robbie Crawford, Lewis McGrattan and Grant Gillespie.

But Imrie is hopeful they will pen fresh deals as club chiefs get round the negotiating table with them and their representatives.

He told the Tele: “Yeah, we want to try and start tying people down, we’re always active.

“Like I have said before, we want to keep all of the players here, but that will be up to the them first and foremost, and then down to the club to go and get things sorted.

“We’re already trying to get some things agreed at the moment. Things are ongoing and once those are finalised, I’m sure that people will be notified with what’s been going on."

Meanwhile Imrie and his men are targeting a move into the promotion play-off places after going on a seven game unbeaten streak. 

The manager said: “The results at the weekend meant that the top two teams in the league suddenly get pulled a bit closer in to the rest of the pack.

"There’s still a distance but it pulls them back.

“We can’t afford to get complacent off the back of Saturday's result against Dundee United, we need to keep on pushing.

“We’ve got another tough game coming up this weekend when we welcome Partick to Cappielow.

“However, if we can match the levels that we played with against Dundee United or even against Ayr United and then the six weeks prior to that, then we can be a match to anyone in this league.”

Imrie feels he’s beginning to see shades of the side that got pipped to a place in the play-offs last season after a very difficult and injury-stricken start to the campaign left them languishing at the foot of the table for months.

He told the Tele: “I can see that steel in the players’ eyes, much like last season.

“Last season they’d turn up and had that belief that they could just go and win games, and we’re starting to get that again.

“I’m delighted for the boys because they’ve had a really tough period where people were beginning to turn against them.

“But they’ve turned it around and they’re starting to play with that freedom again.”