Caley Thistle midfielder Danny Williams had resigned himself to an unglamorous career playing English non-league football.
However, the 27-year-old is now pinching himself ahead of what he hopes will be his first senior cup final.
Williams has been a consistent performer for Caley Jags since making the move from Kendal Town in 2013.
The Wigan-born midfielder had previously spent time with Daisy Hill, FC United of Manchester, Clitheroe and Chester outwith the English senior leagues.
Williams felt his shot at professional football had passed him by until the Highlanders came calling and, having missed last season’s League Cup final defeat against Aberdeen, he is now eager to help Inverness claim their first major silverware against Falkirk in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden.
Williams said: “I’ve had two good seasons here and I’ve enjoyed it. If we can lift that cup it will make it a perfect season.
“It’s on an even bigger scale than I expected. This is the first cup final I’ve been involved in because I wasn’t involved in the last one and it’s bigger than I expected.
“I’ve had a good season on a personal level. I was playing non-league football until I was 24 and didn’t see this coming. I never expected it.
“I was enjoying the non-league football with Chester and Kendal and thought that was it for me but, luckily, I got out.
“I played against Leicester attacker Jamie Vardy, who has just got into the England squad. I played against him when he was at Stockbridge Park Steels and FC Halifax.
“When I was at FC United they were getting 5,000 and Chester also got a few but at Kendal and Clitheroe is was two or three hundred.
“It sometimes helps being a late developer having chased buses down the motorway trying to catch the team when I played non-league. I worked hard and hopefully it shows on the pitch that I’m a bit of a grafter.
“My team is Liverpool and I’ve watched them on a few buses. The last one I watched was when they beat West Ham in 2006.”
Williams is confident Caley Thistle can cope with the pressure of being heavy favourites to lift the cup against Champion-ship side Falkirk and reckons the local build-up to the occasion will inspire Caley Jags.
Williams added: “It’s different going into the final as favourites because throughout the season in the league and in the cups we’ve had a kind of underdog mentality which the manager likes.
“But we will approach it as we always do when we’re underdogs and have that spirit about us.
“Maybe we didn’t get the credit for the semi-final win over Celtic but that’s happened to us all season.
“We’ve slipped under the radar and the talk has been about other teams doing well. We like it that way because there’s no pressure on us. We feel as if the city of Inverness is embracing the cup final and we are feeding off that.
“I had a walk through the town the other day and saw all our photos on buses and taxis. I’ve never seen that before anywhere I’ve been.”