IT takes a lot to get a chirpy wee guy like Allan Moore down.

But the events of the past month have just about floored him. Morton's manager must have been hoping that his side's epic victory at Parkhead at the end of September would be the turning point in his personal and professional fortunes but instead it has ushered in what the 49-year-old regards as the "toughest time" in his life.

Not only was the afterglow of that extra-time triumph disrupted by the sudden death of his brother Steven while on holiday in Turkey - he had previously suffered the tragedy of losing his sisters Elaine and Agnes after illness - Moore also endured the trauma of his house being broken into while he slept. No respite has came from his work, either. Morton have lost four and drawn one of their five matches since, leaving them adrift at the bottom of the SPFL Championship to leave Moore's hold on his job a source of daily intrigue.

But while Moore and Morton may be down, they are not out quite yet. St Johnstone arrive in Inverclyde for a Scottish League Cup quarter-final, with a win earning the Cappielow side a place in their first semi-final since they faced Rangers in the 1981 Scottish Cup. There would be no better moment for that luck to turn.

"I've not had a chance to celebrate because of what happened in my personal life after it," said Moore. "I haven't watched the DVD. It would be a major success if we managed to get through. I would probably cherish that more than anything.

"My brother Steven died the very next day after the Celtic game. I was doing an interview for Sky when I got the phone call and it knocked me for six. I don't want to overshadow the occasion. But I hope the Gods might shine down on me for a change after what's happened in the last month.

"It's been the toughest time of my life. I lost my sister [Agnes] through cancer a couple of years back. I had to watch her deteriorate for a year and that was incredibly difficult. But at least then I had a diversion because the football was going well. That took my mind off it and gave me respite. But the football has been pretty disastrous since the Celtic game and my brother's death. That just kind of magnifies everything."

Moore accepts that ultimately it is poor play and poor decision-making rather than divine intervention that decides matches, but equally timely has been the intervention of friends and family to help put a smile back on his face. He has sought solace within the football fraternity, including assistant Mark McNally and Danny Lennon, the St Mirren manager. Wife Kim and children Jade, Allan, Megan and Connor have also played their part. "My daughter Jade bought me the Alex Ferguson book and put some nice words in the front to say that she believed in me and that I had to get my mojo back, as she calls it," Moore said. "And she actually gave me back my book, Motivated with Life, which I gave to her last year because she was having a hard time. She said 'you can have your book back dad, I think you need it more than me'.

"The good thing is - there is always next Saturday. That is keeping me going. I believe we can pull off a shock win and it could lead to more. The chairman hasn't put any pressure on me - I have put pressure on myself, because I know that you can't keep losing games."

Bafflingly, Morton not only beat Celtic over 120 minutes, but also boast an 100% record of sorts against top-flight sides, having taken the scalp of rivals St Mirren and Motherwell in pre-season. "We should have beaten Hamilton when they were top of the league," said Moore, who won the old first division during a happy spell in Perth. "Then we went and lost 5-1 to Cowdenbeath, which was probably the lowest point of my football career - playing and management. Even on Saturday we more than matched Raith Rovers then lose a silly goal in the 93rd minute when we should have settled for a 1-1 draw.

"The truth is I would have swapped the Celtic result for nine points in the league. Although maybe the chairman wouldn't because of the finance. And we have a chance to put ourselves in the history books."

That chance is diminished perhaps by the attitude that their visitors will likely adopt for the tie, with Tommy Wright insistent St Johnstone will afford Morton the same respect as a top-flight club, given their exploits in the last round. "They are the only team to beat Celtic this year," said the Perth manager. "So they've obviously got good players. They've not really done it in the league so far but, in a one-off game, they have shown they are capable of beating the best team in the country. That's what makes it a difficult game for us.

"It doesn't make us more wary of them. We respect everybody that we play and we don't expect to just turn up and win games. We will approach the game as though we were playing any top-flight club. We can't go into the game thinking we are just going to win and it's going to be easy."

Sunday's victory over Motherwell allowed the McDiarmid Park side to move into the top half of the SPFL Premiership, but their fine form of recent seasons has not been rewarded with silverware. Both Kilmarnock and St Mirren have won this trophy in the past two years and Wright would love his side to emulate that success. "The only opportunity that we have of silverware, like other clubs, is the cup competitions. They are massively important for clubs like St Johnstone and we put a huge emphasis on the them because realistically that is our best opportunity of winning something."