FLYING Morton full-back Jack Iredale reckons he’s already in football paradise — despite drawing treble-chasing Celtic in the last eight of the Scottish Cup.

Iredale is currently enjoying a new lease of life at Ton after re-joining the club following a loan deal at Queen’s Park.

Since his time with the Spiders, Iredale, 21, has broadened his football education and come back a much-improved player for manager Jim Duffy.

And with a Scottish Cup date in the east end of Glasgow to look forward to next month, former Perth Glory starlet Iredale could not have dreamed of such a successful return to his parent club.

He told Tele Sport: “It’s a massive cup draw and while we would have liked a home tie, it’s going to be a massive experience, playing Celtic away.

“Speaking personally, I could not have imagined things turning out the way they have done. It’s going to be a massive game.

“The biggest crowd that I played against was United the other week, which was probably about 5,000, so for something like this, it’s going to be ridiculous. It’s a big step-up.”

With two goals to his name in the last four starts, left-sided ace Iredale is also showing that he can contribute massively to the team going forward.

He said: “I couldn’t have dreamed of this, to be honest.

“I haven’t scored too many goals in my life, especially as a defender, but to get the opportunity to play at left-back, I’m really enjoying it. I thrive there.

“It’s the chance to get forward and to contribute goals.”

Iredale warned that the trip to Celtic Park will be placed firmly on the back burner until Duffy’s side negotiates a series of four potentially tricky league matches which could prove pivotal to their promotion play-off hopes.

It starts this Saturday with a trip to Palmerston to meet Queen of the South, followed by a Tuesday night game away to Dumbarton, the team they dumped out of the Scottish Cup at the weekend.

Four days later, it’s a 400-mile round trip to take on Inverness Caley Thistle and, on the back of that one, there’s another Tuesday night fixture at home to high-flying Livingston. 

Iredale said: “We have a lot of games coming up in a short space of time and there’s a few midweek fixtures too.

“So a lot of players are going to get an opportunity to impress the manager but it’s up to us to try to grasp it and ensure we deserve to be in the starting 11 for when the cup game rolls around again.”

Iredale revealed that with four wins on the bounce, Ton are fuelled with increased confidence.

He said: “I think that comes from winning.

“When you’re winning games you’re in a happy mood and we’re playing some decent stuff at the minute, so the wins have certainly contributed to the mood of the team.”