THE pictures from Wednesday night say a thousand words for Conor McCarthy. It is his photo on the wall that he really wants this season.

The Irishman has seen the history of St Mirren around the stadium as famous cup winning sides from 1987 and 2013 are remembered and recalled with great fondness. Come the end of February, they could be joined by another iconic snap.

There is still plenty of work to be done before then, of course, but victory over Rangers has given the Buddies and boss Jim Goodwin belief. They can now dare to dream as they prepare to return to Hampden.

"I won the FAI Cup twice with Cork City," McCarthy said after his late winner secured a dramatic 3-2 victory over Steven Gerrard's side. "We played the finals at the Aviva. Hopefully I can keep that record up in Scotland.

"We have the semi-final coming up and that will be a great occasion for everyone at the club. We need to put that on the back burner now though. We have to park that for a few weeks.

"Walking into the stadium you see the photos of the past St Mirren teams on the walls.

"There have been some great cup wins at this club and those images inspire us to think we can do the same.

"The manager was the captain in 2013 and for him to replicate what he did as a player would be really special for him and the club.

"We can't think too far ahead. We have Livingston in the semi-final first and that will be another tough tie.

"But of course, we will have the same belief and I think everyone will agree that the cup is wide open now.

"That's Celtic, Rangers and Aberdeen out, along with other Premiership clubs.

"Hibs are probably the biggest club left in the tournament but the other three will all be looking to go all the way."

That ambition is very much alive thanks to McCarthy's late heroics. St Mirren had come from behind and then been pegged back as Jamie McGrath netted twice for Goodwin's side.

As extra time loomed large, McCarthy produced a moment that will live long in the memory as he reacted quickest to a loose ball and beat Allan McGregor. On a wretched night for Rangers and Gerrard, it was a moment to savour for St Mirren and Goodwin.

"When the ball came back to me I didn't have much time to think," McCarthy said. "But I knew that if I hit it low the keeper would probably save it so I needed to get some back lift on it.

"To see it go in the net was just an unbelievable moment for everyone. If you could bottle that feeling and sell it, you'd make millions.

"It was a crazy game, up and down. We didn't start great and then came into it.

"But to take the lead and then get that late winner, it's something we can take great pride from.

"Rangers hadn't lost in 27 games. People were talking of them being Invincibles and you can understand why.

"They have had an unbelievable start to the season and they are really representing Scottish football on the European stage,

"It was David versus Goliath stuff really and thankfully we came out on top.

"The manager has been great with us and has really drilled in the fact we need to have belief in games like this.

"That was one of our biggest assets against Rangers. We knew we could win if we played like we can. We had that belief and it's one of the reasons we got the result."