Morton clash with Cove Rangers as play-off race goes to the wire

With 35 games gone, it all comes down to a fraught and floodlit Friday night in Aberdeen and unfortunately they will not be masters of their own destiny.

Going into the final round of Championship fixtures, Ton are only six points off the league leaders Dundee, but sit in sixth position in the table.

If they are to prevail, then as well as defeating Cove Rangers they will need one result elsewhere to go their way.

As long as Morton can take care of their side of the bargain they have to hope that either Raith Rovers can defeat Partick Thistle or the spoils are shared between Inverness and Ayr United, who sit immediately above them.

First things first, Ton's task at hand is no gimme.

They are up against opponents who are fighting for their lives and need a result to keep rock bottom Hamilton at bay and ensure they do not end up relegated.

Judging by their dogged and determined display at Dundee a week ago, which garnered a precious point, they are not to be taken lightly regardless of the fact they have lost three times to Morton already this term.

No one saw that result at Dens Park coming, so it would be foolhardy to be distracted by what may or may not happen elsewhere.

Morton have to focus on themselves, ignore all the outside noise and just get a win.

If it does not prove to be enough then they will still be able to hold their heads high and say they did all they could.

They have worked their socks off since August and have carried the fight to teams with much larger budgets and taken their season to the last leg.

Ton are already 14 points better off than they were a year ago and are guaranteed to finish in a higher position and claim more prize money, so it is clear they have made a considerable improvement over the last 12 months.

There will doubtless be a nagging feeling that they could be higher in the table due to the recent 94th minute sickener against Dundee, or the mugging at home to Inverness, not to mention the Arbroath away match which they somehow failed to win while creating a catalogue of golden chances.

But every other team will have stories of a similar vein to tell and it is futile to dwell on what could have been.

The positive is that a season which began with an agenda to avoid relegation has been transformed into one where the club is again looking upwards at the right end of the table and finishing the campaign strongly.

Morton should be going into tonight's game full of confidence after their terrific victory over Queen's Park at Cappielow last weekend.

If their win over Raith Rovers the previous week had been a bit of slog to watch, this was the perfect antidote.

It was a heroic 90 minutes from Dougie Imrie's players, who had to contend with a number of injuries and going behind in the game despite dominating it.

They were also up against a good side in Queen's Park, but their record against them has been superb and they franked that formbook with their 2-1 triumph making it 10 points from 12 against the Glasgow club.

It rankled with Owen Coyle and his players, who have been pretty disparaging about them after every match this season.

But any neutral watching last weekend will have seen that Morton were clearly the better team and fully deserving of their victory.

The whole side earned a well-earned a pat on the back at full-time but Jai Quitongo, Robbie Crawford and Darragh O'Connor were outstanding in their respective departments and laid the foundations for success.

The visitors were run ragged by Quitongo and just couldn't cope with him, Crawford was perpetual motion in midfield and scored a superb goal and O'Connor was colossal at the back as the game wore on, with partner Jack Baird not far behind.

Calvin Miller also picked a good time to produce what was his best display in a Morton shirt since joining the club, but there wasn't a player on the park who could be faulted.

They were out on their feet at the end and having had to withdraw Quitongo, Robbie Muirhead and George Oakley to injury during the second half, Ton will hopefully not be shorn of any of their leading lights for tonight's showdown and will go on to make it a memorable night.