View From The Shed: Morton curtain raiser assessed

After a disappointing League Cup group stage campaign, Ton exited the tournament at the first hurdle, with an chastening 3-0 drubbing at League Two East Fife proving a particular lowlight.

Added to that, the injury woes that beset the early stages of last season appear to be rearing their ugly heads again this time around.

The centre of Dougie Imrie’s defence is once again suffering, notably the long-term loss of new signing Dylan Corr, as well as shorter-term absences of fellow new arrival Morgan Boyes and vice-captain Jack Baird.

As Imrie’s side head to Firhill this weekend, the hope amongst the support must be that at least one, if not both, are fully fit and available for the weekend’s curtain-raiser, such are the attacking riches of our friends from Maryhill.

Assuming Partick boss Kris Doolan has done his homework, skipper Brian Graham must be licking his lips at the prospect of facing a Morton side who fell so meekly in Methil and in Perth.

But Morton’s defensive woes are not the only issue of concern. While Ton have lost a number of last season’s squad, the departures of George Oakley, Robbie Muirhead and Robbie Crawford to fellow Championship clubs, including Crawford to this weekend’s opponents, have been especially galling.

Couple that with new signings Jordan Davies and Lemar Reynolds yet to impress, where the goals are going to come from is already becoming a point of discussion.  While the signing of Jay Emmanuel-Thomas should go some way to allaying those fears, Imrie will be looking for contributions all over the park.

One of those tasked with providing goals will likely be Owen Moffat, whose fine run and finish against Alloa last Saturday opened his Morton account.

Morton are aiming to defy the predictions after being tipped by many pundits to struggle in the Championship. (Image: Alex Craig)

Moffat has proved one of the bright sparks in that disappointing League Cup campaign, as has Michael Garrity, who produced an excellent second half cameo at the weekend, topped off with a well taken goal from a lovely Aaron Lyall through ball.

While the return of Baird and/or Boyes would clearly bolster the defence, another important factor in returning to a more settled backline would be the return of the influential Iain Wilson to the Cappielow engine room.

While Wilson has had his injury woes throughout his career, I expect that his fitness or lack thereof throughout the season will be crucial to how successful a campaign Morton enjoy.

Another who will be a key player is Cammy Ballantyne, who has slotted comfortably into last season’s problem right back berth.

The former Airdrie man will have his sternest test to date at Firhill when he faces up to Partick’s Aidan Fitzpatrick, one that should he navigate it successfully, Morton may just manage to get a result against one of the title favourites.

While Partick also failed to qualify from their League Cup group, albeit controversially, the mood amongst the Firhill faithful seems to be in stark contrast to that in the Morton support, such are the worries surrounding Morton’s new squad and their prospects going into the new campaign.

While the bookies have us as joint favourites for the drop though, it should be noted that Imrie has faced similar challenges in the past.

With some sections of the support shockingly calling for the head of Morton’s best manager in generations only last autumn, for the boss to maintain things would come together and eventually guide his team through choppy waters, embarking on that fine unbeaten run that propelled them up the table and into the quarter finals of the Scottish Cup.

There’s one thing we can be sure of going into the new season: it won’t be boring!