Caley Thistle manager John Robertson says the strength of his attacking options cleared the way for striker John Baird to join tomorrow’s Championship opponents Morton on an emergency loan.
Baird will spend the rest of the campaign with Jim Duffy’s men but is ineligible to face his parent club at Caledonian Stadium tomorrow, with Morton eight points ahead of Inverness, who have a game in hand, in the race for a play-off place.
Although Baird started the season as Inverness’ first-choice striker following his move from Falkirk last summer the 32-year-old has netted just four goals in 31 appearances, and has struggled to dislodge in-form George Oakley from the main attacking role in recent weeks.
Robertson is content with the cover provided by Nathan Austin and Daniel MacKay, and said: “John has been frustrated at not playing recently, and had the opportunity to move back down to the Glasgow area. We wish him well in that respect.
“We’ve got Nathan Austin back fully fit and he will be in the squad on Saturday, while George Oakley is playing well. To cover the striking options we’ve got young Daniel MacKay also doing well.
“We are OK in the forward areas so it was worth letting John go.
“John’s contract is up at the end of the season and it was an opportunity for him to get back down the road. The decision was purely down to him.
“Jim Duffy phoned me and he was looking for a striker. He noticed John had not been playing so we gave him permission to speak and told John it was his decision.
“If he didn’t want to go he wasn’t getting chased, but he decided at this moment in time that was the best option.
“Regardless of whether John goes and scores goals for Morton, good luck to him.
“We’ve got to do what’s right here and we felt it was a position we did have cover in, should he want to go.”
Robertson remains keen to add to his own squad, with defensive cover his main priority. He added: “We are still actively looking at a couple of players on an emergency loan to bolster the squad. We are certainly going to need that over the next few weeks.
“The deadline for emergency loans is March 31 so we’ve still got a wee while yet.
“We’ve made a couple of inquiries for players this week and we’re waiting for the clubs to get back to us.”
