Ross County manager Jim McIntyre hopes leading scorer Liam Boyce is rightback on the goal trail in time to rescue the Staggies’ stuttering season.
Boyce netted his 15th goal of the season in last weekend’s 2-1 defeat by Kilmarnock at Victoria Park but it was the Northern Irishman’s first strike since January.
County take on rivals Caley Thistle in a crucial Highland derby at Caledonian Stadium this afternoon, with the Staggies only four points ahead of their bottom-of-the-table opponents.
McIntyre feels the attacker could hold the key to the Dingwall side’s hopes of turning their season around.
The manager said: “Liam is such a clever footballer that, no matter where we play him, whether it is on a side, up front or off the front, he’ll always get into a goalscoring position.
“That’s the trust we have in Liam, to play a number of front positions. We know he is still going to have that knack and hunger to get between the goals.
“It was great to see him get his goal and as well as that he had another good chance from a corner. It was a fabulous strike and no more than we deserved. Hopefully, he scores a batch of goals now.”
Despite propping up the table, Inverness have shown signs of resurgence, with their only league defeat from their last five league matches coming against champions-elect Celtic.
McIntyre is not surprised to see improvement in Richie Foran’s side but is out to secure a third derby victory of the season.
He added: “Every team throughout the season goes through a spell where things aren’t going their way but there’s plenty of spirit in their side.
“They’ve had players there for a long time who have tasted success as well. This is probably the first time it has gone the other way for the majority of them.
“They’ve reacted positively to that and it doesn’t surprise me. Their manager has a great fighting spirit. But this is about us – about what we do. We know we’re more than capable but we have to make sure we outwork them, outfight them and let our quality produce on the day.”