I'll give everything to win the cup - just like Jefferies

Musselburgh ATHLETIC midfielder Alan Morgan rubbed shoulders with Hearts manager Jim Jefferies while at Kilmarnock and wants to emulate his old boss by being crowned a national cup winner when he returns to Rugby Park this weekend.

Morgan grew up in the Honest Toun and, as a boy, made the odd trip to Olivebank with his brother and father to watch Musselburgh, a side of which he is now a key part and one he hopes to lead to glory in Ayrshire this weekend in the final of the Emirates Scottish Junior Cup.

Although his memories of Killie's home are tinged with regret - Morgan only played a handful of games for the club in 2008/09 - the 27-year-old will look to the same stadium to deliver the type of success that Jefferies and Brown, winners of the Scottish Cup in 1998 with Hearts, enjoyed there.

"I am a Hearts fan, and Jefferies is definitely the type of person that I looked up to," said Morgan.

"It was a lot to do with Billy Brown that I got a deal at Kilmarnock, so I owe a great deal to him for that. They're probably two of the most successful guys I've worked under. Jefferies' record speaks for itself - he's had a great season.

"When I first arrived at Kilmarnock, I saw how things worked, Jim was actually taking a step back. Day to day, Billy Brown was on the training ground and motivating players. After that, Jefferies started to be more hands-on at training and he got a reaction out of the players. At that point in his career, it was only when he needed to step forward that he did so." Gretna's demise saved Killie's SPL status that season and Morgan soon dropped out of the senior game to seek football fortune closer to home.

After a brief stint at Stenhousemuir, Morgan came close to dropping out of the game. But, he was persuaded to join an amateur team in his home town and then won a move to East Super League side Athletic at the start of this season, regaining his pride and his spirit.

"I kind of stopped playing after Stenhousemuir - I don't know why I went there in the end," said Morgan. "My heart wasn't in it and it was a last-gasp effort to stay in the game. But, that scunnered me, and I had it in my mind to stop playing.

"But a couple of my mates, including Chris McGinn, the manager of Musselburgh Amateurs, persuaded me to play. I played a friendly at Dunbar and ended up playing out the rest of the season for the amateurs. Davie McGlynn (Athletic manager] is close with Chris and my move came about from there. At that time, I was delighted to be playing amateur but I would have loved to have played at a higher level."

Morgan admits to missing the buzz of the early start each day to attend training at a senior club, but is content for now combining his duties at a trade retailer in Straiton with a more relaxed football career at Olivebank.

He added: "I miss the fact that I don't get up every morning and go to training. I was lucky enough to do that for ten years, but there are other parts that I don't particularly miss. In most of football, money is so tight, there's so much pressure on performances and getting new contracts. I don't miss the pressure of not knowing where your next pay cheque is coming from.

"I've gone out and got a job and the money's not the same, but that's the way it goes."

He spent a trophy-filled youth career at Musselburgh Windsor and Tynecastle before a move to Hearts, Rangers, then Blackburn Rovers. It was in Lancashire, and at next club Inverness, that Morgan garnered his most recent silverware, winning the under-19 league and FA Youth Cup at Ewood Park before clinching the Inverness Cup while with Caley in a mini-league including Ross County and Elgin City.

This weekend's junior showpiece, an east-versus-west encounter against Auchinleck Talbot that is expected to attract thousands to Rugby Park, is on a different level altogether. For Morgan, the game represents something of a homecoming - a story that has seen the one-time Killie midfielder subjected to some friendly banter from his current team-mates.

"The boys have made that pretty clear that they'll make me point out exactly which bit of the bench I used to sit on," he joked.

"We've got the home dressing-room, which is a lot better than the away dressing room. It'll make the day a bit more special, and will be a reminder of the few times I played there.

"Everybody knows it's going to be a tough game. Auchinleck have been to a fair few Scottish Junior Cup finals over the last few years. We can look at their result against Bo'ness (in the semi-final] and they must be good to put five past them over two games.

"In our favour, I don't think they know much about us, so we can try and enjoy it and try to nick something."