Former Caley Thistle midfielder Barry Wilson fears Inverness could struggle to recover if they fall into the Championship at the end of the season.
Caley Jags are three points adrift at the bottom of the Scottish Premiership and go into Saturday’s game at Hearts following a morale-sapping 6-0 demolition by Celtic in the Scottish Cup at Parkhead.
Wilson, who played for the club in two spells, believes relegation from the top flight for the second time in eight years would be much tougher to bounce back from.
Former manager Terry Butcher’s side managed to return at the first time of asking in 2010 but Wilson said: “I’m worried for the club, especially when you see the position it is in and I’m sure even the most optimistic Caley Thistle supporter is worried.
“No-one is saying they are not hopeful, but it is the consequences which worry me. I look at the Championship and see how hard a league it has become.
“Look at St Mirren toiling there. If it can happen to them it can happy to any side in that division.
“Hibernian have spent three seasons there. One by one Rangers, Hearts, Hibs and Dundee United have and can find their way back up, but not every club does.”
Caley Jags could find the gap increasing to five points if they lose at Tynecastle and second-bottom Hamilton win at Partick Thistle, but Wilson hopes manager Richie Foran’s luck will turn.
Wilson said: “It just feels all so full of doom and gloom at the moment and maybe it is because of the next three rounds of fixtures. Caley Thistle have Hearts, Rangers and Celtic in their next three games and it’s not getting any easier for them. It hasn’t been kind on them but you never know, sometimes when nothing is unexpected something silly can happen.
“The biggest problem I can see is the team is stuck in a rut. Just as winning becomes a habit, so too does losing. It has happened to champions Leicester City in England and it’s happening to Caley Thistle now.”
Wilson has sympathy for Foran and hopes the manager’s recent transfer activity can spark light at the end of the tunnel for the club which last won in the league on October 26 at Motherwell.
He said: “Richie has brought in players. He’s brought Billy Mckay back to the club, he’s trying everything he can to get them going again.
“He’s looking for whatever crumb of comfort he can get, a scrap to hang on to, a platform to try to build from. Even if it’s a 1-0 lucky deflected goal. He’ll take it, I hope he gets it.”
