Caley Thistle defender Jamie McCart says his players must finally prove they belong in the Premiership in their crucial five remaining matches.
Inverness appear destined for relegation to the Championship having fallen five points adrift at the foot of the table and face rivals Ross County in a crucial Highland derby at Dingwall tonight.
McCart reckons Caley Jags are better than their position suggests and, although he realises time is running out for his side, the on-loan Celtic player does not feel it is too late to claw back the points.
McCart said: “I didn’t know what to expect here, coming from Celtic. It is quite different and it has been a battle.
“There’s a lot of pressure. I felt it especially in the 3-0 defeat by St Johnstone – a really disappointing result where the supporters weren’t happy.
“We’ve had good performances but just not been able to hold out. We’ve created so many chances.
“The belief comes from the manager and the backroom staff that we can get out of this position.
“The onus is on us to put it right, with performances and points now. We’d take bad performances just to get the points.
“Looking at the squad we have, this is definitely a Premiership club. We’re disappointed we’re in this position because we shouldn’t be anywhere near it.”
McCart joined Inverness on a temporary deal from the Parkhead club in January and has gone on to make eight appearances for Richie Foran’s men, including the last derby encounter at Caledonian Stadium which finished 1-1 on March 18.
McCart is relishing another crack at the Staggies tonight and the 19-year-old added: “It will be a good atmosphere and we’re just fully focused on getting the win.
“The last one was rated the biggest, before this, but obviously coming so close to the end of the season this is huge.
“The last one was full-throttle, 100%, from the start. It was a good game to play in and we were disappointed not to win that match.
“We’ve been tunnel-vision on this game since we came back from a couple of days off and we really need the points.
“It will be even sweeter if we beat our big rivals to get those points.”
