This is little more than a glorified friendly to me - the Renfrewshire equivalent of the Confederations Cup. I think it's a risk playing our local rivals a few weeks before the season starts as it's asking for someone to get injured or suspended. However, at the risk of completely contradicting myself, I'm surprised we're playing it quite this early in our summer schedule. Morton already have a few games under their belt so will be more up to speed. We have had just a game in Spain to blow away the cobwebs so could be on the back foot. I may not care about this game but others will and looking more sluggish than our local rivals may not go down too well with some Buddies - especially if it costs us the trophy.
We are on a rather impressive seven final winning streak in the Renfrewshire Cup - although the fact we've been in the SPL for all that period has probably helped as we should always have a better squad at our disposal. Unless Hearts go bust in the next few weeks there won't be any Renfrewshire derbies in the league this season so tomorrow will have to do unless we get them in a cup draw. It's a shame as the local rivalry used to be pretty intense when we played on a regular basis and a packed Love Street or Cappielow would generate a fantastic atmosphere.
Tomorrow's game does come with a sense of intrigue for fans wanting to see our new signings - not that there are many of them. Gary Harkins will probably start and David Cornell will surely be in goal, with Christoper Dilo on the bench. And that - aside from Kealan Dillon - is your lot, although you could be given a sighting of Darren McGregor or Thomas Reilly now that they are fit again. Just don't expect to see David Barron as it seems he has more problems. As we only have one other striker in Steven Thompson there's a fair chance Reilly will start, while fellow youngsters Sean Kelly, Mo Yaqub and Anton Brady could also be given some game time.
Morton finished second in the first division last season, their highest placing since the mid 1990s when they just missed out on a play-off spot to Dundee United. A play-off place is up for grabs again this season and that will surely be the minimum aim for Allan Moore's men, with the title obviously the ultimate goal. Maybe if they win it they'll finally get round to putting up the old Love Street end roof they bought off us and make their ground SPL compliant, although that might not be necessary now since the reconstruction over the summer. Technically, the SPL doesn't exist any more.
However, while Moore's side have a good shot at the title they'll have to do it without two of the key members of last season's squad. Midfielder Michael Tidser, who was linked with a move to us on some forums, has been sold to Rotherham and will be a huge loss due to his creativity and goal threat. Peter MacDonald has left - which is good for us as he usually does well when playing against the Buddies - for Dundee, which is a double blow as the striker will be turning out for Morton's main rivals for the title.
But Morton this week signed someone else who often does quite well against us - and he now has even more reason to silence the Paisley punters. As soon as Buddies heard that Dougie Imrie was on trial at Cappielow we just knew they'd sign him and you can almost bet he'll score tomorrow while playing a blinder. Better he does it in this rather than a meaningful game! Joe McKee had a "blink and you'll miss it" loan spell from Burnley with us in 2011 but barely featured and has now joined Morton permanently after a stint at Bolton, although is seen more as a replacement for Tidser than MacDonald. Instead, the striker's replacement appears to be Kabba-Moudou Cham, a rather tall, young Gambian striker who the Morton fans are quite excited about. They also have another pretty handy striker in the shape of former Rangers youngster Archie Campbell.
The other signings so far are in defence. Marc Fitzpatrick should be a good recruit after time with Ross County and Motherwell while Jonathan Page has been signed from Hamilton. The defender will probably play alongside Mark McLaughlin at the back with Scott Taggart at fullback and Derek Galston in goals. New recruit Nicolas Caraux may have something to say about who starts as first choice keeper. Fellow Frenchman Fouad Bachirou should arguably be playing in a better midfield than one in the first division, while David O'Brien is capable of scoring at a fairly regular rate for a midfielder. Former Blackburn youngster Reece Hands was given a deal earlier this week after impressing while on trial, as were Slovakian defenders Michal Habai and Thomas Peciar.
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