Morton v Partick: Ton need response after Arbroath shocker

It's a case of back to basics after the Greenock men turned in a diabolical display and slumped 3-0 to the then-bottom club last Saturday.

Manager Dougie Imrie said after the match that it was something he 'didn't see coming'; he wasn't the only one.

His team had gone into the game in fine fettle after their commendable display against Rangers in the cup and all the mood music was positive.

They'd deservedly won lots of plaudits for their showing at Ibrox and had by all accounts enjoyed a good week at training off the back of that.

Skipper Jack Baird returned to the squad, new signing Iain Wilson was ready and named on the bench and even although they were facing a well-documented bogey team, everything looked in their favour to finally end that sequence.

The Red Lichties had just opened with three successive defeats and Morton at home were tipped to claim three points.

Instead they just didn't turn up in what fast became an utterly abject afternoon.

This was probably the poorest performance since Imrie's arrival at the club and one so out-of-character that he was understandably left a bit shellshocked by it.

The supporters were furious at what they'd watched and booed the team off at half-time and the final whistle, while one or two individuals regrettably felt the wrath of the more vocal elements of the Cowshed.

Imrie made no excuses and duly apologised to the fans in the press conference, now he will be looking for a strong reaction from his players.

To be fair to them, they have made a decent start to the season overall, and have plenty of credit in the bank for their endeavours over the last couple of years.

That should not be forgotten, but all the same this result was still a punch in the face and one they're going to have respond to, and quickly.

To do so, the manager will have had to comb over and dissect it properly, after his changes during the match failed to have any positive effect.

Morton were really poor in every department, both collectively and individually.

Their defence was all-at-sea and the midfield conceded huge amounts of space to their opposite numbers.

It was painful to watch a series of long balls being aimlessly shelled up the park, a practice which was all the more strange considering the absence of the injured George Oakley, who was much missed, along with Grant Gillespie.

Everyone can have an off day but there was also a listlessness about Morton, with their forward players failing to make any impact at one end, the defence toiling at the other and the midfield largely posted missing.

It was notable how many times second balls were claimed by Dick Campbell's men and they thoroughly deserved their maiden win of the campaign - they must wish that they could play Morton every week.

Defensively the most glaring issue, once again, was the absence of a credible option at right back with both Darragh O'Connor and Cameron Blues deployed there and left exposed.

It is far from ideal that the club has reached seven weeks into the season without a recognised, orthodox right back on the books - regardless of problems with availability and budgets - and Ton are paying a price for failing to plug that gap.

With the post-mortem in the early part of the week done, the team now have to move on and pick themselves up.

In the circumstances, a visit from opponents they have a bit of needle with mightn't be a bad thing.

Partick are still searching for a bit of consistency after the loss of several key players over the summer led to a bit of a rebuild.

Kris Doolan's men are still a bit of an unknown quantity as a result, but they served notice that they are getting there with a good win over Queen's Park at Firhill last Saturday.

They'll make the short trip down the M8 in confident mood and Morton have to prove last week was a one-off if they want to get something out of this game - and avoid the spectre of three defeats from their first four Championship matches.