Morton manager Jim Duffy believes that his side can once again defy the odds to win at Easter Road, but only if his men forget about the reputation of the players they are coming up against.

Duffy’s troops shocked Hibs in February by storming the capital and coming away with an impressive 3-0 win through goals from Thomas O’Ware, Denny Johnstone and Ross Forbes.

While Duffy lost forward Johnstone back to parent club Birmingham City in the summer, Hibs were able to turn down an offer of over one and a half million pounds for their own star striker Jason Cummings recently.

Duffy believes that illustrates the gulf in resources between the clubs, but he is sure that when it comes to endeavour on the field, there will be nothing between the teams this afternoon.

If his players can perform to their capabilities, he sees no reason why they can’t pull off another shock result and give Neil Lennon’s title-chasing side a bloody nose.

He told gmfc.net: “I don’t really look at [the opposition’s] performances levels too much because then you can intimidate yourself before you turn up. It’s really about respecting them, understanding how they play, and then trying to compete against them.

“By that I don’t just mean in terms of the work ethic but going out there to play and take an active part of the game and not just stand back and admire them.

“Hibs have started the campaign very well but that’s to be expected with the players they’ve got at their disposal, particularly in the forward areas.

“I mean, they’ve just turned down £1.7million for Jason Cummings and that’s an extraordinary amount for a Scottish club to turn down for a player.

“It just shows you the level of club they are and the gulf in resources between us, but it’s on the pitch on the day that counts and we’ll go there and try and compete as well as we have done in every other game so far.”

While pleased with the effort put in by his players in last week’s draw against Dumbarton at Cappielow, Duffy was less enamoured with the level of football that they played.

‘Ton had to come from behind to salvage a point, with Kudus Oyenuga climbing off the bench to haul his side level before the Sons had a late goal controversially disallowed.

Admittedly, the Morton boss only felt so let down given the slip from the high standard they had set so far this campaign, but he is looking for his players to put in a more complete showing today.

He said: “I was disappointed and frustrated with last week because of the performance – the fact we’ve been playing so well but didn’t play so well. We were certainly not going overboard, though, that’s for sure.

“Without playing as well, we actually created more clear-cut chances in the game than we did in previous matches. I still believe we got the benefit of the doubt when Dumbarton’s goal was chopped off, but we could won the game with the chances we had.”

Celtic loanee Aidan Nesbitt returns to the Morton squad for the game after sitting out last week’s match with a twisted ankle.

Left-back Mark Russell may feature after making the bench for the game against Dumbarton and playing against Greenock Juniors in midweek as he continues his recovery from a viral problem.

Rickie Lamie and Jamie McDonagh are both doubtful with tight hamstrings though, while Conor Pepper remains on the side-lines with his knee injury.