MORTON goalie Ryan Mullen says the team have to get back on track quickly to avoid the 'horrible' prospect of missing out on the promotion play-offs.

Ton are without a win in over a month and the slump has seen them slip out of the top four sink to sixth place in the Championship as the wheels threaten to come off their season.

Their loss of form follows an earlier 16-game unbeaten run and Mullen says the drastic change shows just how competitive the Championship is.

He told the Tele: “That’s the Championship for you in a nutshell.

“Not so long ago, we were in a position where we could look ahead and now, after a few defeats, we’ve slipped back down the table and are looking over our shoulders.

“We’re in the middle of the pack now, which shows you how quickly things can change because of how competitive the league is.

“We’ve shown before though that we can go on a run, we went 16 games unbeaten before so there’s nothing that says we can’t go and win the next six or seven games.

“The boys have got every faith that we can go and do that and we’re fully focused on pulling ourselves back up the league and into those play-off spots.

“That’s where we deserve to be after everything we’ve put into this season.

“It’d be horrible to miss out on it after everything we’ve been through as a group this year."

Ton suffered an agonising near-miss with the end of season shootout last year, being squeezed out on the final night, and are desperate to avoid a repeat.

Mullen told the Tele: “I know it still hurts a few boys, missing out last season, especially on goal difference.

“Hopefully the fine margins won’t impact on us too much and thankfully we’ve got boys coming back from injury.

“We’re starting to look quite healthy again, I’m sure that we’ll kick on again.”

After an uncharacteristic error against Dunfermline which led to the Fifers' winner, the stopper showed his ability to bounce back just a few minutes later by defying Chris Hamilton from point blank range when a second goal looked certain.

He added: “I think that also shows the type of character that I am, to bounce back from making a mistake like that and moving on quickly.

“It also showed that it’s not going to stop me making positive decisions in the game either and I’ve reacted well to that.

“I’m glad i kept that out of the net, it was probably the best thing for me and it means I’m not tallying up or things like that.

Ultimately, I think losing 1-0 is reflective of how tight the game was, so we just need to work hard and try to bounce back this weekend.”