Morton: Dougie Imrie has food for thought before Raith clash

Competition for places is high, despite the Cappielow boss having a squad that's decimated with injuries.

And after his subs made an impact off the bench on Tuesday night against Livingston, Imrie admits he may have a decision to make.

Imrie now has options to chose from (Image: Gary Bradley)

Nathan Shaw and Austin Samuels have impressed over the last few games as they continue to get up to speed, whilst Jordan Davies has grown in confidence.

And Imrie says that having that competition can only be a good thing as he goes about looking to move his side back up the table.

"There's competition for places all over the pitch," he told the Tele.

"Nathan Shaw looked sharp again, but we just need to be careful with him.

"The point will come where he's in from the start, but we don't want to get there too soon and then see him break down.

"We need to build him up slowly - he's been out for a total of seven months with a really serious injury. We don't want to force him. However, when he is up to speed he will be a fantastic player for us.

"You can see the difference he makes for us - he's a quality player at this level.

"Austin Samuels came off the bench on Tuesday night and scored with a very good finish, which is good for him.

"Jordan Davies, in the last few weeks, has started to look more like the player that I went to go and watch back in January. He just needs to believe in himself more.

"There's competition all over the pitch, which can only be good for us moving forward."

Alex King, left, has impressed in his last two games (Image: Gary Bradley) Imrie, though, still has some frustrations after watching youngster Alexander King come back into the side and make a positive impression against Ayr United in a cameo last Friday before starting in the middle of the park against Livingston.

And after a positive showing on both occasions Imrie was disappointed to see the teenager forced off injured in another blow to the club's casualty list.

He added: "Alex King has done well over the last few games, although he had to come off through injury on Tuesday night. We'll need to see how that goes.

"But that's the hard part for me, because players are coming in and doing well, then they're breaking down again.

"It's the hard part for any manager. You want all of your players fit and available, but for some reason, over the last couple of years we've just seemed to have some horrendous luck with injuries."