‘I know we are feeling fragile but we must bounce back’
TON BOSS SENDS A MESSAGE TO DEJECTED SQUAD
MORTON boss Dougie Imrie hopes his ‘fragile’ feeling side can bounce back at the first time of asking when they head down the coast to take on Ayr United tonight.
After Saturday’s dismal defeat to Airdrie, Ton travel to Somerset Park knowing that only a win will do if they’re to remain in the hunt for the Premiership play-offs.
Despite looking at a low ebb at the weekend, the manager believes they can bounce back against Scott Brown’s men this time around.
Imrie feels that fourth place and the last-off play-off slot is still up for grabs, but admits his troops need a boost if they are to remain in the fight.
He told the Tele: “The boys here are brilliant, a good group who give it their all every week. But they’re feeling a bit fragile at this moment in time. We had a great win against Queen’s Park and any time we seem to go ahead, we see the game out and get the three points.
“I don’t think we’ve come back from behind at all this season, which is disappointing to hear but that’s life. We’ll just need to keep giving it our all.
“When you lose two goals early doors like we did on Saturday then the writing is on the wall.
“We’ve got another tough game tonight against Ayr. Dunfermline drawing on Saturday means we need to go to Somerset Park and win. But Ayr will be looking at the opportunity to go above us too.
“But I’m not too concerned about that, I’m more concerned about my players and how we do going forward.
“It’s disappointing, as we wanted to go to Airdrie and put ourselves in a position going into Tuesday night where we could’ve had some distance between ourselves and
them and Dunfermline. But every game is tough at this time of the season and teams will cut each other up. Airdrie have cut us up. They move forward. Dunfermline and Partick cut each other up.”
Imrie feels there will be more twists and turns between now and the end of what’s been a rollercoaster campaign, with Ton playing tonight and on Friday evening. But he has warned his players that they cannot afford a repeat of their lame showing against the Diamonds.
He said: “Tonight’s game gives us a chance to bounce back, and maybe it’s good that it comes so quickly. But having three games in six days is tough on any player. Four or five weeks ago we had four in 10 days and five in 16. It’s taking its toll on a lot of them but they’re still giving their all.
“I thought Airdrie at times looked very good on Saturday, but that’s because we allowed them to and it can’t happen again.”