MODEST Morton boss Dougie Imrie has seen it all in a senior playing career that spanned over 16-years - but he’s well aware he’s on the edge of something special as Monday night’s Scottish Cup quarter final against Hearts draws nearer.

In a wide ranging chat with the Tele - Imrie delved into the depths of his career and the days where he was looking for a break in the game which he admits is lightyears away from where he stands at the time of speaking.

Openly admitting that tonight’s tie is the biggest moment of a brief managerial career to date, he makes no secret that it’s a carrot he wants to be chasing on a regular basis in the years to come as he gears up to try and mastermind another night to remember at Cappielow.

He said: “These are the moments you live for. This is the biggest game of my managerial career so far and this is why you do it. You want to be a part of the big games.

“I would love to be sitting doing that every week, going to your Celtic’s, Rangers, Aberdeen’s, Hibs, Hearts. Everyone has aspirations and those are mine.

“Players are no different either, they want to play against the best players every week and like I keep telling them, if they have those aspirations then these are games that they need to turn up.

“If we were to go and beat them, it would mean the world to me, it would be a special special night that I’d remember for a long time. It’s the highest calibre of game I’ve been involved in here.

“It would be a highlight of my short managerial career to date and a very proud night for myself and my family, but we won’t get carried away until it’s in black and white.

“Until then, we can dream and that’s exactly what the players should be doing.

“I’ve seen what a result like that could do for a club first hand, I went in on trial at Clyde the day after they knocked Celtic out the Scottish Cup.

“They played them on the Sunday and I went in on the Tuesday and it was crazy. It just shows you that it takes 11 players doing their job properly to go and do it.

“When you’re the underdog and the smaller club, you need your men to be at the maximum and one or two of the other team to be off the races and you never know.”

A rather candid Imrie welcomed the Tele within the four walls of his inner sanctum, or at least within the confines of his office in Cappielow. One thing that has been apparent within his tenure in Inverclyde is how grounded he remains despite a clear rising stock. And it’s clear to see where that reminder comes from when you see a framed picture of his debut at Clyde, aged 23 hanging above him at his desk.

“If I was talking to that Dougie Imrie,” he smirked, leaning back in his chair, reflecting on the early days of his professional career. “Making his debut for Clyde and told him this is where he’d be in 18 years later - he’d have laughed at me.

“That’s because up until 2015 I had no interest in coaching. But we’re here now and there’s not many people who’ll get the opportunity to go one step further than this and manage their side in a Scottish Cup semi final.

“We’re all one game away from it and we all want a bite of the same cherry, we’ll do all we can to make sure that the people of Greenock and in and around the club are proud of us. I know I will be.

“There’s still a long way to go though and we’ll take things a game at a time.”

Imrie took it right back to the beginning, where his desire and passion for the game drove him to all four corners of the country and some of the darkest parts of the lower echelons of our game.

He admits all he needed was a chance as he challenged his players to go and grab theirs with both hands as he looks to build on the memories etched into his mind from that night against Motherwell a month ago.

“Even when I was at Lanark United for the couple of years I played in the Juniors,” he added. “A lot of people had written me off. I kept on being told I was too wee for trials and things like that, but then I got my break.

“People ask me how it happened and that’s what I tell them, I was 23 before I went pro, albeit having played 150 plus games scoring 80 goals against men in their 30’s. There’s even more in there as I was playing amateur from the age of 14.

“There’s always opportunities for guys to get that break, even some of the guys here need it, someone to want them and they should view that tie against Hearts as a chance to help them get that.

“The Motherwell game was fantastic, it was some atmosphere. The fans really got behind the team and made a lot of noise they pushed us onto victory and hopefully that can be replicated on Monday night.”