UNATTACHED former Hamilton Accies and St Mirren forward Dougie Imrie has linked up with the Morton squad for pre-season training, the Tele can exclusively reveal.

Imrie started his career with junior outfit Lanark United and earned a move to the senior ranks with Clyde in 2006.

He then had spells with Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Hamilton, both of whom paid five-figure transfer fees to secure his signature.

Ton's Renfrewshire rivals St Mirren were his next port of call when manager Danny Lennon shelled out �35,000 to take him to Paisley in January last year. But after 44 appearances and three goals in his 16 months at St Mirren Park his contract was terminated by mutual consent last month.

Interest in the 29-year-old is thought to be high, with Dundee and clubs in England believed to be monitoring his situation. Ton boss Allan Moore invited Imrie to train with his side in the hope that being around the club could prove an advantage in enticing the player to join for next season.

He told the Tele: "Dougie's in training with us but I wouldn't class him as a trialist because he's a very good player.

"He's not decided where he wants to go, so we invited him down because then we can have him in with us looking at our set-up, our training facilities and the way me and Nally [Mark McNally] work.

"I think that would mean we would have a better chance of getting him, and he's certainly somebody I'd like to bring on board, there's no doubt about that.

"He can play left wing, he can play right wing, he can play up front, and all I've heard are good things about him, from Danny Lennon at St Mirren and other folk." Moore will be hoping it's second time lucky where Imrie is concerned after he failed in a bid to sign him for Stirling Albion back in 2006.

He added: "He came to Stirling when I was the manager and played one of the best trial matches I've ever seen. He was junior at the time. His touch was great, he was going past people, and big Nally came over to watch the last part of the game after taking some of the boys for training.

"I said to him, 'this boy's good, I just don't know if he's got a goal in him.' The next minute he controlled the ball with his right thigh and smashed it into the bottom corner with his left foot. Right away Nally said: 'I think that answers your question.' I tried to get him to sign for Stirling after that but Clyde offered him a better deal, unfortunately.

"He kicked on from there and established himself as a pro. And that's the thing with Dougie, he has the hunger because he was late coming into the game, which I had myself and big Andy Graham has.

"Some boys get it easy and they don't have that hunger. But Dougie's always had that because he had to work his socks off in the juniors to get to where he is now. He's always retained that sort of hunger. You can see it in his training. He trains hard and doesn't come in and mess about.

"He shows a good attitude with the younger players, and that's important with us trying to bring through young boys.

"Dougie would be a good signing, there's no doubt about it, but I think Dundee and a couple of other teams might be interested. I'm not sure if he's keen on the travelling so we'll see what develops."