Caley Thistle manager Richie Foran knows time is running out for his side but he will not allow his players to suffer relegation to the Championship without a fight.
Inverness are seven points adrift at the foot of the Premiership and appear destined for the second tier unless they can produce a dramatic turnaround in form towards the end of a campaign in which they have won just four league games.
A defeat by Hamilton Accies at Caledonian Stadium tomorrow could spell the end of Caley Jags’ seven-year top-flight stint, if Motherwell defeat Ross County and Dundee win at Kilmarnock.
Foran knows it is a tall order with only four games left but he is urging his players to display more pride than they have in recent weeks, most notably in Friday’s humiliating 4-0 derby loss against Highland rivals Ross County.
Foran said: “I haven’t spoken about going down – I’ll only speak about it if it does happen.
“I’m not sure about delivering points but in terms of playing for the jersey and playing for the club, fighting for every ball, that’s what we need to do.
“We need to show more pride than we have done in the last few games and I know when you are low in confidence you become low in energy. When you’re low in energy it’s hard to have that passion, hunger and workrate.
“Confidence affects it all but there are ways to lose games, and we didn’t lose it in the right way against Ross County. We were outmuscled at times and bullied in a lot of areas of the park. That’s disappointing.
“It’s hard to give the players aggression and make them tenacious if they’re not born with it.
“I try and do my bit in the team talks and on the training ground, whether it’s giving them a rocket at times, but it’s down to the players now.
“A few of them have the fight, the passion, but maybe it’s something you have to be born with, that’s in your genes.
“They’ve got to find it from somewhere.”
Foran is demanding a response from his players, and he added: “I’ve asked them, because I know if a manager is questioning my desire and passion, I’m looking for the opportunity to show it on the Saturday. I need that controlled anger.”
Former Caley Thistle manager Charlie Christie, the club’s head of youth development, was heavily critical of the club’s performance both on and off the field in the wake of last week’s defeat by County but Foran refused to be drawn on his comments, adding: “It’s up to the club to deal with that sort of stuff.”
