Former champion Morrison, who lost the belt in his first defence against Colin Lynes in Motherwell last June, swears he's a better fighter away from Lanarkshire, and that was certainly true when he originally won the title by beating hometown hero Lenny Daws in London in January last year. "When you're away from home, there's less pressure on you," said Morrison. "You don't have to chase around for people who are looking for tickets. There's nobody chapping on your door asking you how you feel about the fight tonight and all that carry on – I hate that, because when I get out of the gym I just want to get to the fight venue.

"You're in a hotel room, relaxing and ordering the food you want. Maybe I'll have a wee chat with my trainer Arthur, but mostly I just want to switch off until I get to the fight."

Barnes is not strictly on home territory either, and the Mancunian may find the Merseyside rivalry working against him – "he is from Manchester so maybe they'll turn against him," said Morrison, hopefully.

Worryingly for Morrison fans, however, the man who stopped six of his first ten opponents has not managed a knockout since he stopped Dean Hickman in the first round of their British light-welterweight title eliminator in Kirkcaldy in March, 2006. Morrison was aware of the problem and has linked up with conditioning coach John Graham, who has designed a series of exercises to build up Morrison's strength and ability to give and take a punch.

At the mention of the word "lunges", a brief look of pain flitted across Morrison's face and the boxer confirmed they were not exactly his favourite activity.

"I have never done anything like this before," said Morrison. "When I started working with John it was a bit of an eye opener for me. It's two years since I stopped anybody in the ring, so that's one reason why John is working with me. But if you look at it, I have stepped up a level so the boys I am fighting are a bit harder to knock over.

"And sometimes when you set out, you say to yourself 'I'm going to have to go 12 rounds here' and there's no point in expending energy. But I'm sparring well and I have done a lot of work. I am very, very confident.

"My main aim is to get the Lonsdale Belt outright. I haven't even thought about losing, but if I do, I have no thoughts of retiring. There's a lot of good fighters out there at my weight and plenty of good fights to be made. I have not been in a lot of gruelling fights and even when I was beaten in Belfast by Mutu it was not a really gruelling encounter. I am 28, and I'm still fresh."

The key to a Morrison victory will be whether the former champion goes into the ring in a relaxed frame of mind, as was the case in his best performance to date against Hickman. If fighting away from Scotland really does relax him then, even though he is the underdog, Morrison may prove the old adage that east or west, wherever you win is best.