Caley Thistle’s Jonny Hayes is determined to be fit in time for the SPL opener against Celtic at Caledonian Stadium on August 14.
The Inverness winger will have a scan on a knee today after picking up the injury early in pre-season. It keeps him out of Saturday’s League Cup tie at home to Queen’s Park.
Hayes was a key man last season as Inverness won promotion. He said: “I’ve missed a bit of the pre-season training after twisting my knee in the first week, but it will just be a case of catching up with the rest of the squad and I’ll have a couple of weeks to do it. I think Celtic up here on the first day is a realistic target for me to aim for.”
Dublin-born Hayes has been inundated with requests for tickets for the Celtic game.
He said: “This means so much to so many people up here in Inverness. The town has been electric since news came out we were playing Celtic on the first day, especially with us being back in the SPL. I’ve had quite a few requests for tickets and I would expect that to rise as the day comes closer but our priority is to try to get off to a positive start.”
On-loan Hibs defender Kevin McCann, meanwhile, may be missing out on his club’s return to European football, but he insists playing regularly with Inverness means more to him.
The 22-year-old is on loan at Caledonian Stadium for six months as he bids to put an injury-ruined two-year spell at Easter Road behind him.
McCann has made just one league appearance since May 2008 after knee tendonitis, hamstring and toe troubles. The right back is now fully fit but knew opportunities were going to be limited under John Hughes this season after the arrival of Michael Hart from Preston.
McCann is missing out on a Europa League campaign, starting in Slovenia against NK Maribor tonight, but after 13 years at Hibs he knew he needed a fresh start to try to kick-start his career.
McCann, a League Cup winner with the Edinburgh side in 2007, said: “It was a bit of a no-brainer for me coming to Inverness.
“It's SPL football, they are coming into the league and are hopeful of doing well.
“When I saw Michael Hart come in, I knew I had to figure out what my future was. I knew I had to play this season after being out injured for more than two years.
“It's also the last year of my contact so I really need to show people I can still play. I can make a fresh start here and focus on my football.
“I've been at Hibs since I was 10 so this is a nice change. It's a new challenge, playing with new players and getting to know different styles of play. It will be good for my career."
Hibs manager Hughes says McCann still has a future at Easter Road and is to watch him in the coming months, but the defender refuses to look too far into the future.
He said: “It would be great if I can finally stop talking about injuries. I just want to play games.
“I'm feeling good and have started well at the club anyway. Hopefully I can be part of things for six months and then we can take it from there in January and see what happens.
“The move gives Inverness and everybody else the chance to see if I'm still good enough to play at this level.”