We’d rather be in Cove than Qatar

As attention across the globe focuses on the Gulf, Ton followers only have eyes for their team’s away fixture against Cove Rangers.

Amid all the controversy surrounding what is viewed by many as a tournament discredited before it even begins, it’s a relief that a healthy dose of Scottish football will carry on for the people who love the game at lower league level.

While the top flight moves into cold storage for the next few weeks — or a winter training camp, or money-spinning sojourn to Sydney — the wheels of the Championship will keep turning and provide a welcome antidote to the excesses of the global game.

For Morton it’s a trip north to Aberdeen, to play their first ever fixture at Balmoral Stadium on the city’s outskirts.

The last time Cove hosted the men from Greenock was at their former home of Allan Park, back in December 2004 for a Scottish Cup second round tie.

Ton ran out emphatic 7-1 winners on that bitterly cold afternoon thanks to goals scored by Peter Weatherson, Jason Walker, John Adam, Warren Hawke and Chris Millar against their then-nonleague opponents.

Much has changed in the intervening 18 years, with Cove making great strides on and off the park, eventually joining the senior ranks in 2019 and ascending to the second tier of Scottish football in short order.

After making a slow start following their title-winning promotion they’re bedding in now and beginning to establish themselves, gradually coming to terms with their latest step up the ladder.

Under former Dunfermline and Dundee boss Jim McIntyre, Rangers are currently placed eighth in the table but have put some distance between themselves and Arbroath at the foot.

They’ve claimed some notable results along the way, principally on their own patch, and are only eight points back from a Ton side sitting in second following a seven-game unbeaten streak of five wins and two draws.

It’s a run which saw boss Dougie Imrie claim the manager of the month award, and he defied the much talked-about curse of the sponsors’ prize by steering his side to victory a couple of days after collecting it.

The 2-1 win over Partick Thistle was another demonstration of Morton’s growing clout, with the hosts dominating most of the first half, creating the best chances, getting in front and then recovering from the blow of letting their lead slip to score a winner with around 10 minutes left.

A fine goal it was too, with Grant Gillespie, Robbie Crawford, Jai Quitongo, Lewis Strapp and Cameron Blues all combining to send the Cowshed into raptures.

While opposition managers and players continue to disparage Ton by bleating about their supposed reliance on corners, free kicks, long-throws and ‘battles’, this is a side which has a good bit more to it than the lazy stereotypes being trotted out by some rivals.

It is sour chatter that does Morton an injustice but it’s also a surefire sign that teams are not relishing playing against Imrie’s men and that they are getting under people’s skin — that will be music to the ears of the manager and a home support which was notably up in numbers last weekend and left the old ground in fine voice at full-time.

Hopefully a few exiled fans are finally beginning to return to the fold, as that would be a fitting reward for the job Imrie has done since walking through the door 11 months ago. He has overseen a dramatic turnaround and given everyone of a blue and white persuasion a team they can feel proud of again.

They are a close knit bunch and would run through a brick wall for each other, with team spirit joining continuity of selection and confidence as key factors in their recent resurgence.

The line-up will have to be disrupted tomorrow as skipper Gillespie, below, serves a one match suspension and it will be interesting to see if the manager opts for a change of shape or simply slots someone in as a straight swap.

Liam Grimshaw could move up to fill the midfield berth with Carlo Pignatiello going in for him at right back, but maybe the manager will have a trick up his sleeve to wrong-foot his opposite number.

Either way the loss of Gillespie will be felt, as he has been excellent since arriving in the summer.

The former Hamilton and Queen’s Park man has proved to be a very shrewd acquisition — he can put his foot on the ball, orchestrate play, dig in and carry a goal threat.

In the only previous SPFL meeting of these sides back in August it took an explosive finish from Jai Quitongo to settle the game and Cove were a bit aggrieved not to have left Cappielow with a point.

They have a well balanced squad with experience dotted throughout and their home record is such that Morton will need another strong performance tomorrow — all bar four of Cove’s points so far have been picked up at the Balmoral.

If the visitors come back down the road with a share of the spoils then all things considered it’d be a more than respectable result.

MORTON will be without the services of captain Grant Gillespie against Cove.

The skipper serves a one-match suspension having picked up his sixth yellow card of the season in the clash against Ayr United.

Gillespie’s absence could see Carlo Pignatiello, pictured, or Jaze Kabia return to the starting line-up.

Darragh O’Connor may be available for selection after stepping up his recovery from a thumb operation.

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