Five Caley Thistle players missed training yesterday, but manager Richie Foran is confident four will be fit for tomorrow’s game against champions Celtic at Caledonian Stadium as he has competition for places.
Carl Tremarco and Henri Anier were sidelined by hip injuries, Jake Mulraney is suffering a hamstring strain and attacker Billy Mckay, pictured, sat out with a groin injury.
The loss of Mckay, who scored a brilliant winner against Rangers on Friday night, would be a particular blow to the Highlanders but Foran said: “They couldn’t train on Monday, and there was no point in risking it. Billy has a groin injury but he’ll be fine and will probably train today. Jake will have a scan, we’re not 100% certain he’ll be available but he’ll try to get through it.
“Carl has a strain of his hip, so I’d put him 70-30 to be available, and Henri should be all right as well, but Aaron Doran will not play as he has a knee problem.
“I’ve never made excuses with not having players available. I believe the 22 or 23 players we have are all good enough to start games. It was very competitive in training on Monday and the work-rate has gone up a notch.
“Players are looking over their shoulder, they know they can’t afford one bad game because they will be out and another player will come in.”
Inverness have moved off the bottom of the Premiership for the first time since December after taking four points from a possible six, with Friday’s 2-1 win against Rangers coming after a 1-1 draw against Hearts the previous weekend.
Caley Jags face a daunting task against Brendan Rodgers’ side which is unbeaten in the league this season, but Foran is determined to keep his side’s momentum.
Foran added: “It’s all about timing and I said it a few weeks ago, we might just go on a run at the right time.
“This is definitely the right time for it. The focus now has gone from Inverness on to other teams around us, we want to keep on building on our past two performances. The Celtic game is a bonus game.
“They’re flying high, nobody expects us to get anything from the game. If we get anything it’s a huge bonus.
“With that victory against Rangers the belief has gone up a notch.
“We know we can score goals and, if we can keep it tight at the back and try to outwork them, we will have a chance of getting something.
“That will be hard, as they work very hard as well.”
