ATHLETIC entertain Greenock Morton this afternoon as they bid to claw back points on their fourth-placed opponents.

James McPake's side are seventh in the table and five points behind the 'Ton, having played a game fewer, and four above second bottom Queen's Park.

Here's our look ahead to today's match.

Recent meetings

Dunfermline have won both encounters with Greenock Morton so far this season.

In September, they powered to a 3-1 victory at KDM Group East End Park, thanks to goals from Craig Wighton, Lewis McCann and Michael O'Halloran, in what their manager described as one of their best performances of the season.

Dunfermline Press:

They then travelled to Cappielow in November for a Friday night encounter, live on BBC Scotland, and raced into a two-goal lead within the first seven minutes thanks to Owen Moffat's brace.

Steven Boyd's late penalty sent nerves jangling, but Dunfermline held on for three points.

The Pars are unbeaten in their last three fixtures with Morton, who last won at East End in November 2021, recording a 3-1 success.

In the overall head-to-head, Dunfermline have recorded 51 wins to Morton's 40, with 34 meetings drawn.

In the league, the Pars have won 49, Morton have won 35, with 29 ending in draws.

Recent form

Athletic played their first game in three weeks at Dundee United last Saturday, and produced a fine display to come home with a 0-0 draw.

They are, however, six matches without a win - although three have been drawn - and have slipped to seventh in the Championship table, five points behind Morton, who are fourth, and four above second bottom Queen's Park.

Dunfermline's last home win came against Arbroath at the end of November, but today's game will only be their third at East End since.

Morton arrive in West Fife in fine fettle after a sparkling run of form.

Dougie Imrie's side had a tough beginning to the campaign, but are unbeaten in nine league games since losing at Partick Thistle on November 11.

Of those, six have been won - including an impressive victory over Dundee United at Tannadice - and they now occupy the final Premiership promotion play-off place.

Team news

James McPake provided an update on injuries within his squad, which you can view by clicking here.

New signings Brad Holmes and Xavier Benjamin are in the squad and could make their debuts, whilst fellow January recruit, Malachi Fagan-Walcott, could also make his home bow after making his first appearance last week.

From the manager

"They've been great. I think ever since we went down there on that Friday night, and they were on a really poor run at that point, they've turned it round," McPake said of Morton.

"That's credit to Dougie, his staff and players because that's not easy, particularly in this league.

"They're unbeaten in nine (league games) so to go and do that in this league is tough. I should know - I don't think I've ever done that!

"It's credit to them. We know it's going to be a tough game. Even taking their form away, although we've beaten them twice, the games have been really tough.

"Here, I thought we were excellent for 70-odd minutes of that game, and could've scored a few more. Down there, we started really well but, again, showing the fight that they've got, they never backed down, they kept coming back at us, and it was a tough end to the game for us.

"We're under no illusion just how tough this will be, but we're looking forward to it."

Press Sport will have live updates from East End on our match day blog. Kick off is at 3pm, and tickets are available until then.