Dougie Imrie says Accies result will define early progress

The Ton boss was pleased with lots of aspects of his side’s battling performance against Partick Thistle at Firhill but he says the standard has been set for moving forward into the new campaign.

And if those levels can be matched, Imrie reckons his side will be on the right side of results more often than not.

Imrie was delighted with his side's point at Partick (Image - Alex Craig)

He told the Tele: “That’s the aim. We want to build from the platform that we created by drawing with Partick.

“The players set the standard of what’s expected of them in that game, that type of performance is the minimum I expect going forward.

“If we can get that kind of performance going forward then we’ll win more games than we’ll lose.

“I was pleased with a lot of aspects of Saturday, there’s still a few things that we’re working on but in the main I was very pleased. We need to continue that in what will be another tough game against Hamilton.”

Accies lost their opening day fixture against promotion hopefuls Ayr United and will be looking to bounce back against one of their club heroes in Imrie.

But the Ton gaffer says he’s only focused on what his side can offer in the shape of an impact on the game.

He continued: “Hamilton come here with the bit between their teeth, having lost on the opening day at home. They’ll be looking to rectify that, but we can only focus on ourselves and what we do as a Morton team.

“Yes, we show teams respect, but we don’t focus on what they’re going to do. We focus on ourselves.

“There was a lot of positives to take [from Firhill] but this weekend will tell us a lot come the end of the game, where we’re at.

“That’s in terms of whether we come away with a win, a draw or a loss.

"The result will tell us how far we’ve progressed from the Partick game.

“I’m pleased with a lot of aspects of our game at the minute, but we need to start putting the ball in the back of the net.”

Imrie say’s Ali Crawford’s performance at Firhill justified his decision to bring his former Accies teammate back to Ton, little over 12 months after an initial loan spell.

Ali Crawford impressed at Firhill (Image: Gary Bradley)

Crawford stood out in a 72-minute debut for the club and Imrie says if he and his teammates can continue to match the efforts put in against Partick, they’ll be in for a successful season.

He added: “I brought Ali back to the club because I think he has the right attributes to help the club move in the right direction. Not because of what people thought happened in the past.

“At the end of the day it’s my opinion that counts. But I knew what I’d get on Saturday, regardless of what people thought his performance was.

“He was one of a number of players who put in a great performance against Partick and again, if the squad can put in that level of performance week in week out, then we’ll win more games than not.”