Martin Canning has urged Hamilton to grasp their William Hill Scottish Cup opportunity against Rangers - and not miss the chance of lifetime like he did.

The Accies boss was part of the Gretna side which made it all the way to Hampden back in 2006.

But he was cup tied and missed the Borders outfits' big day, which ended with a penalty shoot-out defeat to Hearts.

It took penalties for Hamilton to see off Dunfermline at the second attempt on Tuesday night as they set up a last-eight clash with Rangers.

Read more: Could Frank de Boer be Rangers' version of Brendan Rodgers?

And Canning urged his team to use his sob story for next month's Ibrox tie.

He said: "I was at Gretna when they got the to cup final but I was cup tied so missed out on the actual game at Hampden.

"I went through all the emotions of the final without getting to play, which is probably more difficult.

"I've told the players to grasp this opportunity because the quarter-finals was the furthest I got.

"When you play in Scotland, the cups are one of the main things you chase because the league is so hard to win unless you're playing for Celtic or Rangers.

"So a cup run is the opportunity for every player to get their hands on some silverware."