Duffy warns players to put Gersgameto backofmind
MORTON manager Jim Duffy has warned his players that they cannot afford to let this weekend’s Scottish Cup tie against Rangers enter their minds after their unbeaten streak was brought to an end.
Duffy’s side went down to Queen of the South on Saturday, but he is hoping the can get back on track when they visit Raith Rovers this evening.
To do so though, Duffy knows they will have to be completely 100% focused on the task at hand rather than worry about the glamour tie at Ibrox on Sunday.
“We haven’t even mentioned it and we won’t refer to it until after the Raith Rovers match,” Duffy said. “How can you?
“The players’ families and fans will obviously want to talk about it because it is a huge game on the horizon, but we need to focus on what is directly in front of us and we’ve always tried to make sure that is the case.
“The players fully understand that and I don’t think there will be any issue from the players’ point of view.
“They know that it’s tough enough to go to places like Kirkcaldy giving 100% concentration without being distracted elsewhere.
“The Rangers game will take care of itself on Sunday. I want to make sure that we go to Raith Rovers and compete the way we have done.
“All we are doing is concentrating on Raith. You could come through it unscathed or you could have a couple of injuries and all of a sudden, you’re up against it.
“I know that people will look at the calendar, but most football managers outwith the likes of a Celtic don’t have the luxury of planning teams well in advance.
“We’ll play the team we think is appropriate for Raith and then we’ll look at it again for Sunday.”
Duffy will have to pick up his men for their second tricky away fixture in succession, after admitting he felt let down by the manner of the weekend defeat in Dumfries.
He had no complaints over the outcome, but he felt that his players were well below the standard they have set themselves these last few months.
“It’s bitterly disappointing,” he told gmfc.net. “You can lose football matches, of course you can, but there is a manner – and that was the first time in many months that I’ve felt we handed the game to the opposition.
“We didn’t lay a glove on them. We had a couple of chances in the first half but really they were few and far between.
“In the first five or 10 minutes of the second half, I thought we were bit better.
“We seemed to get a bit of a wake-up call after being so poor in the first half, but that didn’t last long and once the first goal went in, I felt we were really quite shot shy and the creative side was really poor.”
DUFFY added: “They looked heavy-legged, there was no spark, and that was strange because we haven’t changed anything in the training or done anything different.
“We deserved to lose the game, there’s no doubt about it. Sometimes you can work hard and be a bit unfortunate, but we deservedly lost.
“Of course, we’ll reflect on it and look it at in perspective, but based on the 90 minutes, that was as poor as we’ve been in a long time. We need to try and make sure we don’t repeat the performance again between now and the end of the season.
“And hopefully the players will feel that pain and understand how good they feel when they’re winning matches and that anger will fester in them because they need to pick themselves up for Raith Rovers.”