Everything is up for grabs in this ultra-competitive cinch Championship season including an enthralling race for the three precious promotion play-off places.
A single point separates Greenock Morton (4th) and Ayr United (5th) for that final spot as they prepare to go head-to-head under the Cappielow lights on Tuesday evening.
Morton’s run of three wins and a draw in February saw Dougie Imrie rewarded with the Manager of the Month prize and the ‘Ton stretched their unbeaten streak to five games after a spirited comeback from 2-0 down away to leaders Queen’s Park on Saturday.
Mirroring their manager’s qualities as a player, Morton can be slick, streetwise and possess a never-say-die attitude. The addition of George Oakley in January has proven to be a shrewd move with Imrie able to get the very best from his former Hamilton team-mate.
Oakley has scored five goals in five appearances since his arrival with his penalty box prowess and willingness to act as a focal point of the attack helping to get the best out of team-mates, Robbie Muirhead as well as Ali and Robbie Crawford.
Morton are a tough nut to crack, boasting the division’s joint meanest defence with 31 goals conceded and the league’s second best home record with 25 points won from 12 matches. There’s plenty of Premiership experience at the back in the form of Liam Grimshaw, Calum Waters, Efe Ambrose and Jack Baird while goalkeeper Brian Schwake, on loan from Livingston, has kept a Championship best 12 clean sheets this season.
If that sounds positive for the hosts then it is worth mentioning that it would be foolish to write off Ayr’s chances, especially when they have collected 20 points from their 12 away cinch Championship matches to date.
The Honest Men boast the league’s top scorer in Dipo Akinyemi with the forward returning to the goal trail with the opener in Saturday’s loss to Inverness CT to take his tally to 19 in all competitions.
Having remained inside the top four since the second weekend of the campaign, United certainly won’t give up their play-off dream without a fight.
Without the services of Daire O’Connor through suspension, Lee Bullen will be looking for Josh Mullin, Reece McAlear and recent arrival Chris Maguire to provide the creative spark as they seek their first league win since January.
They can take plenty of heart from recent head-to-head meetings with Morton with goals from Akinyemi and Mark McKenzie securing a 2-1 win on their last Cappielow visit. The teams shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw in Ayrshire in November while it required penalty kicks to decide the outcome of their SPFL Trust Trophy meeting.
Tuesday’s test is one of six scheduled matches for Ayr in a manic March and a positive result would give them real impetus heading into next week’s Scottish Cup quarter-final against cinch League 1 side Falkirk.
So, settle down for a Cappielow cracker in a match which could prove to be crucial when the regular Championship season comes to a close.
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