MORTON boss Dougie Imrie says he 'couldn’t be more proud' of his players at the end of his first full season in management.

The 39-year-old believes he and his team learned to overcome adversity whenever it presented itself and says this has moved them onto a new level as a result.

Ton ended the season strongly with three successive wins, only to lose out on the play-off places on goal difference.

Imrie says that to finish the season in the manner they did shows the character they’ve developed.

He told the Tele: “I’m proud that I’ve completed my first full season but I’m also proud of the players because of all the effort put in.

“They’ve given me absolutely everything all season.

"We had one or two minor blips, notably September and January, but we’ve come through it and kicked on.

“A lot of people had written us off only three weeks ago after we lost our 3-1 lead up at Dundee and we knew that we had to go and win all three of our remaining games to give ourselves the best chance possible and we did it.

“The way we finished the season is remarkable and I must give a lot of credit to the boys for that because they’ve been outstanding.

“What they did shows guts. It shows that there’s really positive signs going into next season."

Ton won 2-1 at Cove on the final night of the season in tough circumstances and Imrie says the performance showed their resolve.

He said: “They dealt with a red card early in the second half and an injury.

"They were down to ten men up against a side fighting to stay in the league, I thought they handed it really well."

The manager poured praise on the man who got the winning goal, Robbie Muirhead, with his 13th goal of the season.

He said: “I always knew we’d get an opportunity to go and grab another goal and I’m just glad it fell to Robbie. I know what he’s like from that area and he’s done it again."

Pointing to a transformation from the player he saw when he first walked into Cappielow, the Ton chief says the mentality of the striker cannot be questioned.

Imrie said: “I’m really happy for him as a player and as a human being. He’s taken a lot of stick at Morton and this season he’s really stepped up to the mark, I've not got a bad word to say about Robbie.

“The mentality he’s shown to come back from a tough period in his career is amazing. He’s got to take a lot of heart from that because he’s got a great temperament.

“Nothing really fazes him, and he just goes about his business, so hopefully he can carry it on into next season. He’s got to keep building.”