Former Caley Thistle attacker Graham Bayne says his old club can show how far they have come in recent weeks by causing an upset in Saturday’s Scottish Cup tie against Premiership side Dundee.
Inverness have recovered from a slow start to their Championship campaign, and have moved to within three points of the promotion play-offs with back-to-back home victories against Falkirk and Queen of the South.
Dundee are 10th in the top-flight but Bayne, who played for Caley Jags between 2004 and 2008 but also had two spells with the Dark Blues, has taken note of improvement in Neil McCann’s side and says they will be a stern test for the revived Highlanders.
Bayne said: “I went to see Dundee a couple of weeks ago when they beat St Johnstone 2-0 at McDiarmid Park and they have some fantastic players.
“They are a team that has been down near the bottom but has now got confidence and momentum – it’s maybe similar to Inverness.
“It’s certainly two teams on form, Neil McCann has got Dundee playing well, while Inverness have made progress in a fairly short space of time.
“It’s going to be tough going to Dens Park to face a team in the league above that will be fairly strong favoruites.
“Caley Thistle can certainly cause teams problems, and I know how strong they have been at the back.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Inverness came out on top but by the same token I wouldn’t be surprised if Dundee had too much for them.”
Bayne watched Inverness’ 3-1 victory over Queens on Saturday, and he has been impressed by the strides made by John Robertson’s men throughout the campaign, adding: “I have seen them four times this year and I can see steady progress each time.
“The style of play has always been there, it’s just nice to see it clicking with a few goals now.
“In the first game I watched them against Morton in August they played very much like a John Robertson team. They were not scared to pass it, they were trying stuff out and they hammered them for 20 or 30 minutes, but then Morton equalised and they ended up hanging on for a 1-1 draw.
“John knew he needed to start at the back and he managed to stop them conceding goals.
“He’s then looked further forward and on Saturday they got the goals at the right times. It’s good to see them so comfortable and playing so well – apart from Stephen Dobbie’s early chance for Queens they never looked in any bother.”
Bayne was signed by Robertson during the Inverness boss’ first spell in charge at Caledonian Stadium, and the 38-year-old is thrilled with the way his former manager has steered Caley Jags out of a tricky situation following relegation from the top-flight, adding: “Everything needed to be sorted out, and it was never going to be a quick thing to do as they were struggling to hold on to players.
“I was really hoping all that hard work and progression through the years was not undone, as relegation is a really hard period to go into. You’ve seen that with the likes of Livingston who were playing in Europe, before they went back down the leagues again.
“You started to fear for them but I’m just delighted for John, I spoke to him after the game and he is such a hungry football manager, his appetite for the game is unbelievable.”
