Caley Thistle midfielder Ross Draper insists the threat of being dragged into the mix for the relegation play-off spot means there will be no slacking from his side in the post-split fixtures.
Inverness go into tomorrow’s game against Kilmarnock holding an eight-point advantage over the Ayrshire men, who occupy 11th place.
Having been consigned to the bottom six for the first time in four years, Caley Jags still have work to do in their remaining five games in order to kill off the possibility of sliding into the danger zone.
Englishman Draper is determined to ensure that does not happen and he said: “A couple of weeks ago we were disappointed not to make the top six.
“It’s frustrating when we were maybe only a win off it. The manager has been saying that if we had nicked a last-minute goal in the Motherwell game, which we could have done, we would have been in the top-six. But they went and scored down the other end.
“It’s frustrating, but there’s still a lot to play for. We need to make sure we do things right and we’re professional. We could still get relegated, so there’s still a lot to play for, for ourselves and the club.
“There’s no switching off on our behalf, the boys have trained well all week and we’re raring to get enough points and finish the season on a high.”
Draper does not expect the reality of playing bottom-six football for the rest of the campaign to have any impact on his side’s approach and the 27-year-old added: “Personally, I think all the boys enjoy their football.
“It’s not nice being dragged into there, so as soon as we can say it’s mathematically impossible for us to be dragged into it the better, really.
“Maybe we can enjoy our football a little bit more but, in general, the boys play with a smile on their faces. It’s just disappointing we couldn’t get another win to finish in the top six.
“That’s gone, we’ve got to get on with it. But the boys have trained well this week, they’ve looked sharp and happy. We had a good break last week with five days off, so the boys have come back bouncing with a bit of a spring in their step.
“We’ll go again. We’ve got five big games to play for and that starts with Kilmarnock.”
