MORTON boss Dougie Imrie has opened up on the difficulties he and his side have faced this season even though he’ll still look back on the past year as one of success.

Ton have endured yet another rollercoaster season, having gone from four points adrift at the bottom of the table to three points off of third, before bowing out of the promotion play-off race in early April.

But Imrie is still happy with what he’s achieved considering the circumstances he’s dealt with this season.

He’s been faced with having to rely on kids and even having less than three subs available to him on occasion.

Even last night against Inverness he had three subs available on the final day of the season but he says those are the challenges that make him love the game.

He told the Tele: “I think that the amount of difficulties we’ve had this season has been down to injuries to key players.

“The season as a whole has been enjoyable, although tough at times when you look at some of the circumstances that we’ve gone to some games in.

“There’s been times where we’ve only had two subs on the bench, there’s been times where we’ve had to bring 15 or 16-year-olds up to sit on the bench.

“That part has been really tough. But as a whole the season has been relatively good.

“That run from December to March is most of the supporters’ highlight. Going on that run was fantastic.

“But then again, we got sucker-punched right at the end of that run losing three big players in one game.

“That started the poor run again. It’s been there, it’s been up and down. It’s been challenging to say the least when you factor in the size of squad we’ve carried at times.

“But that’s why we love the game and the job that we do, to navigate those situations together and come out of them stronger.

“Hopefully next season we can go a year without any serious injuries and we can avoid losing not just key players, but any players for three or four months at a time.

“But listen, we’ll need to regroup and we’ll go again next season.”

Imrie has had to watch a number of players miss out on large chunks of the season through serious injury.

And he admits his sympathy towards them, but he has no doubt that they’ll bounce back stronger than ever before.

He added: “I do sympathise with the boys who have missed out on so much.

“You don’t get into football to sit on the treatment table, you get into football to be in training hard Monday to Friday and then to play on a Saturday.

“But at times, that’s football. Those boys will come back though and they’ll come back stronger.

“I like to think about all this squad have done, and it's a testament to themselves to have kept going as a group.”