Queen’s Park v Morton - Match Preview

by Russell Gordon

You know things are looking grim when we’re discussing relegation six-pointers before the clocks have gone back, but such is Morton’s alarming run of form in the opening weeks of the season, we head to Scotland’s National Stadium fearing that the hoodoo of a season ending in a four isn’t going to rear its ugly head yet again. 

Hosts Queen’s Park’s season has stalled somewhat after an excellent start, which was aided by a double header against an Arbroath side who hadn’t clicked into gear until their inevitable Cappielow romp and they will see the visit of the league’s bottom side as a perfect opportunity to get back on track.

 

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Squad News

I said last week that it was getting to the stage that you’re waiting to see which Morton player will get injured on any given matchday, and sure enough, last week’s victim was new signing Jack Harkness, who pulled up in the warm-up, although he was still able to take his place on the bench.

Kirk Broadfoot’s absence last weekend was unexplained, although Tyler French’s inclusion was a welcome one, with many of us fearing that he may have been forced to suffer an extended stay on the sidelines.

Unfortunately though, Darragh O’Connor and Jai Quitongo won’t be back any time soon, with Dougie Imrie commenting last week that O’Connor would be out for around 4-6 weeks (from then) and that Quitongo would be unavailable for the foreseeable future. I suspect that most who watched last Saturday’s match against Airdrie would agree that we’re missing Quitongo’s dynamism on the right-hand side pretty desperately.

On a positive note, George Oakley’s return to the team was a boost, and the big striker has a terrific record against the Spiders, bagging four goals across three games against them for Morton last season and supplying Robbie Crawford for his fantastic winner on last season’s penultimate day.

 

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Current Connections

There’s nobody in the Queen’s Park squad that have previously represented Morton, but Jai Quitongo and Grant Gillespie both spent a couple of seasons on Glasgow’s southside (or wherever they were squatting those years) from 2020-22, netting a Third Division title and promotion to the Championship via the play-offs before moving on to Cappielow.

Ryan Mullen had a brief loan spell at Queen’s Park from Celtic, whilst Morton Assistant Manager Andy Millen can (of course) count Queen’s Park amongst his many former clubs, finishing his playing career at Hampden at the ripe old age of 45, back in 2011.

 

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Tale of the Tape

History is very much in Morton’s favour, with the Spiders failing to defeat Morton last season, suffering three defeats and holding their more illustrious opponents to a 2-2 draw in Larbert in March. 

We’ll be hoping that history repeats itself on Saturday, as just over a year ago, Morton set off on a ten-match unbeaten league run with an away win against the Spiders, Jaze Kabia and Robbie Muirhead strikes contributing to a 2-1 ‘Ton victory.

Whilst the Christmas fixture at Cappielow fell foul of the weather, when it was eventually played in February, those in attendance were treated to an absolute thriller, with Morton coming from behind to record a 3-2 win thanks to a George Oakley double and a strike from Jack Baird, before Oakley’s double three weeks later clawed back a point for Morton having fallen 0-2 down before half time in that aforementioned Ochilview draw.

Morton were again the victors in that fantastic final meeting of the sides, thanks to a Grant Gillespie penalty and Robbie Crowford’s wonderful winner, as the sought to maintain their play-off challenge at the expense of Queen’s Park’s title charge.

Queen’s Park’s last league victory over Morton was in April 1962. There won’t be too many Morton fans complaining if that record is extended further.

 

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Opposition Analysis 

Life is never quiet with Queen’s Park, and with manager Owen Coyle moving on following last season’s failure to win promotion to be replaced by former Ajax and Anderlecht youth coach Robin Veldman.

We also received a bit of clarity over the summer over the Spiders’ plans for where they plan playing their home games going forward, and to the surprise of very few, they’ve reached an agreement with the SFA to play their home games at Scotland’s National Stadium, in spite of bagging £5 million from the sale of said facility to renovate a more modest venue at Lesser Hampden which could have easily suited their needs.

However, having built a ground which is far too small to host Championship football, let alone matches in the top flight that they aspired to so recently, one wonders if they actually had any intention of ever using Lesser Hampden, and felt that by building a smaller venue, they’d be able to cash in on having Hampden on their doorstep.

I suppose it helps to have friends in high places.

On the park, things haven’t gone well of late. A blistering start to the league season came to an abrupt halt, with our hosts leaking goals at an alarming rate. Last Saturday’s 1-4 defeat at the hands of title favourites Dundee United was perhaps not unexpected, but a 2-5 home caning at the hands of a struggling Ayr United side was not what the doctor ordered. Queen’s Park have lost five league games in a row and conceded seventeen goals in the process. The irresistible force against the immoveable object, this is not.

Veldman’s highest profile signings this season have been Queen of the South hitman Ruari Paton, who has already found the net eight times this season, four of those coming in a Viaplay Cup victory over Elgin City, and former Motherwell winger Stuart McKinstry, who  arrived from English Championship side Leeds United earlier this week and could debut for our hosts this weekend.

Ahead of the match I spoke to Enzo from Spiders Talk Podcast (@SpidersTalkPod), who spoke of the importance of this weekend's match - "It's been a mixed start to the season for Queen's Park, with 3 wins to kick things off followed by a disappointing run of 5 defeats. At this early stage this weekend's game is already massive for the manager if he ever wants to restore the fans' faith in him.

The summer transfer window was an interesting one, with many of our more experienced players shown the door, only to be replaced by youth. As it stands we currently have the youngest squad in the division by a couple of years, and although there's talent there, there's also naivety and a lack of discipline. Most Queen's Park fans will look at a fixture against Morton with trepidation given our record against them last season, but their poor start is something we need to capitalise on. The last time we lost 6 games in a row was in 2013, when we ended up finishing bottom of League Two.

Ruari Paton has been one of our most important signings so far and is currently second top scorer in the division, which shouldn't be a surprise given his goal scoring record last season. Louis Longridge has also found a new role at right back and has been one of our most consistent players, along with our oldest squad member. Keep an eye out for Jack Spong in the middle of the park too, alongside Bayern Munich loaner Barry Hepburn.

This could be a pivotal game in the course of our season, but it's difficult at this stage to be anything other than concerned given the opposition and our defensive woes of late."

 

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What’s Happening Elsewhere?

There’s top-of-the-table clash at Stark’s Park, where league leaders Dundee United are the visitors to big-spending Raith Rovers. More pertinent to Morton’s current concerns however are the visits of fellow strugglers Ayr United to last weekend’s conquerors, Airdrie.

Whisper it, but we may find ourselves wishing Partick well on their trip to the Highlands, in the hope that they can arrest Inverness’s new manager bounce that helped them record their first victory at Arbroath last weekend. The Red Lichties visit Dunfermline in the weekend’s other game.

Betting Guide 

All odds are supplied by McBookie. All odds correct as of 7am on 6^th October 2023 and are subject to change. Please only bet within your means and visit BeGambleAware if you are struggling.

Queen’s Park are favourites to collect all three points at 23/20, with Morton priced at 19/10 to collect their first away league win of the season. The draw is priced at 5/2.

Morton are 5/1 to win whilst recording a so-far-elusive clean sheet, and George Oakley is priced at 8/1 to continue his fine goalscoring run against the Spiders with the opening goal.

Match Officials 

Referee- Craig Napier

AR 1-  Colin Drummond

AR 2- Ross Anderson