View From the Shed: Win can serve Queen's Park thriller

The Cappielow men return to New Douglas Park off the back of a largely forgettable visit to Dunfermline, where Dougie Imrie’s injury-ravaged side frustrated their struggling opponents.

Ton were in fine form against Accies last time around (Image: Gary Bradley) Looking back, coming away with a point was far more satisfactory for Ton than it was for their hosts.

As much as seven absentees could be noted from Imrie’s squad at East End Park, and with Iain Wilson’s minutes seemingly being managed, it looks as though an injury crisis has crept up on Morton out of nowhere.

As is his policy regarding player availability, Imrie has been quiet on the fitness of Morgan Boyes, out since last month’s win over Airdrie, with news of the returns of long-term absentees Nathan Shaw and Dylan Corr thin on the ground.

Of course, we were aware of the circumstances of Ryan Mullen’s knock, given that it happened in the last minute of the win over Raith, and Garry Woods again proved an able deputy, keeping the Pars at bay with a few important saves to help secure the point.

It was interesting to note how poorly the Dunfermline fans felt Morton performed on the day - there was certainly a lack of ambition to create much in an attacking sense, but given the circumstances, few could blame the Morton boss for his defensive tactics on the day.

Imrie will be looking to get a positive result against Accies (Image: Alex Craig)

You can only operate with the tools you have to hand, and with such a long injury list, a draw was a more than satisfactory outcome from a difficult afternoon’s work.

Perhaps the grumbles came more as a result of frustration from the Fifers’ inability to break down a stubborn Morton side. However, the boos from the home sections of the ground became more and more palpable as the game progressed, with every stoppage in play, and every decision that went in Morton’s favour, greeted with a cacophony of boos from the restless natives.

If we’re being honest though, the less said about last Saturday’s game, the better, so it’s onwards to the Accies tomorrow.

Hot on the heels of their SPFL Trust Trophy exit, the Lanarkshire men turned in another Friday night TV shocker, going in three down before the break against league leaders Falkirk, before falling to a 3-1 defeat that by all accounts flattered John Rankin’s toiling side.

Accies have been on the end of three defeats on the bounce since defeating Partick at New Douglas Park last month. They sit only a point below Morton in the table, but based on what I’ve been fortunate enough to witness this season, they’ve been one of Morton’s least impressive opponents, with only Airdrie looking markedly poorer.

Admittedly, Rankin did shuffle his pack a bit, notably starting Nikolay Todorov instead of Oli Shaw, before reverting to his preferred option for last weekend’s defeat to the Bairns, though even when Shaw did replace the Bulgarian, Morton weren’t in any great danger of failing to progress in the competition.

Accies will, however, have Connor Smith, on loan from St Johnstone, available, after he missed out a fortnight ago having previously played for his parent club's B Team earlier in the tournament.

The Hamilton support, though, like the Dunfermline fans last weekend, are another who don’t appear to be too happy with their side's fortunes.

Despite winning promotion last season, manager Rankin seems to have faced the wrath of a notoriously impatient crowd almost since stepping into the role, and defeat to Morton would only exacerbate those howls of derision from a main stand that is becoming increasingly less populated year on year.

Like most of the clubs we’ve faced this season, money has been spent at Accies, but without achieving the desired results thus far.

It was the general consensus at the start of the month that Morton were entering into a crucial run of games, facing up to the two Fife sides at the wrong end of the table and a struggling Hamilton team.

Should we manage to emerge from this run of fixtures with seven points from nine to add to our quarter final spot in the Trust Trophy, that would be an excellent return looking ahead to the midweek visit of Queen’s Park.