MORTON legend Allan McGraw is confident his old club will get the benefit of a second wind when they head into Championship play-off action tonight. The Greenock side’s form has tailed off in recent weeks but McGraw, who managed Morton for 12 years between 1985 and 1997, believes Jim Duffy’s men will be fired up for their first-leg tie against Dundee United at Cappielow.

Morton exceeded all expectations this season by claiming a top-four finish before seeming to run out of steam in recent months. McGraw, though, hopes the start of the play-offs will reinvigorate the side and that the fans will turn out in good numbers to back them as Morton look to keep alive their dreams of a return to the top flight for the first time since 1988.

He said: “I’ve seen a lot of the games this season and they’ve maybe shaded off a little recently. But I’m sure they’ll come back at full strength for the play-offs and they’ll be right up for the battle. They showed earlier in the season that they have great fighting qualities and I’m confident that will be the case now we’re into the last part of the season and it’s all to play for again.

“I think going into the play-offs will galvanise all the players and bring back that cutting edge. They haven’t won for a wee while but that can change in a flash and there’s no reason why they can’t beat United, especially at home.

“I think just getting to this point should count as a success for Morton no matter what happens next. Jim has done such a great job when you consider that he lost a lot of players last year. So to get to the play-offs has been exceptional. I don’t think many folk would have expected them to get to this point. To be honest, at the start of the season I would have settled for them finishing in the middle of the league. And they’ve gone far beyond that.

“I’d love to see Morton back in the top division again. What goes in their favour is that there hasn’t been too much expected of them, apart from by the Morton fans of course. But the neutrals won’t have thought they could do this well and hopefully people will continue to underestimate them over the next few weeks and they then go on to cause a few upsets.”

McGraw felt Duffy, a nominee for the PFA Scotland Manager of the Year award, deserved enormous credit for taking Morton to this point having but hoped his success wouldn’t draw the attention of other clubs looking for a new manager.

He added: “I don’t normally like to give a manager all the praise for a team doing well but I’ll make an exception in Jim’s case as he’s definitely knitted this group together.

“I also hope he stays around even if they don’t go up as he’s done a terrific job. Of course there’s a chance a bigger club comes to try to get him as they’ll have seen what a transformation he’s pulled off at Cappielow. So that’s always the worry. But you can see the effect he’s had on the dressing room.

“And he’s got the team playing good football as well. They can scrap but they can entertain as well. The only thing that’s maybe missing – and a lot of clubs will feel the same – is an out-and-out striker who can score 20 to 25 goals. But that’s not an easy thing to find. And they’ve been unlucky with Jai Quitongo’s injury as he looked terrific in the first half of the season.”