Liam Polworth fears Caley Thistle’s bid to make the Championship promotion play-offs may have come too late.
Inverness are unbeaten in five matches ahead of the trip to Dumfries
today to face Queen of the South, a sequence which includes their IRN-BRU Cup triumph against Dumbarton last month.
Although Caley Jags have seven games left, they are 11 points adrift of a top-four place and Polworth knows the odds are firmly stacked against his side making the play-offs.
But the midfielder remains determined to keep the winning feeling going at Palmerston today and he said: “I wouldn’t say we are happy with where we are in the league, but coming into it on the back of an unbeaten run is something we are proud of and something we intend to keep going.
“It’s a big game. Every game from now until the end of the season will be big for us but if we have any hope of doing anything we probably have to win every game. We know going into the game that a draw may not be enough.
“We will be going out there to get the win.
“We have started to pick up a few more results. To come together at the right time, it is probably a bit late. I think if we had come together maybe five or 10 games ago we would be sitting in there with a good chance.”
Polworth was part of a Caley Jags team that suffered relegation from the Premiership last season and, having taken time to get over the disappointment, the 23-year-old reckons Inverness will be better placed for a promotion push next season should they fall short this term.
He added: “With the pressure that we were under towards the end of last season, I don’t think it really hit us until we went down. Maybe for a while we thought the players we had in the squad were too good to go down.
“Obviously that was proved wrong. It’s 12 months on, there’s not a lot we can say about the relegation now. These things happen so it’s something we just have to deal with.
“A lot has changed, players and a lot of different things, since we went down.
“I don’t know what the manager was hoping for at the start of the season. I’m sure he was maybe just looking to establish us and then have a go again next year to get us back up.
“A lot of the boys that the manager took in hadn’t played a lot of professional games. They have had a full season under him, if he gets them signed up.
“If he brings in whoever he wants at the end of the season I’m sure he will be having a right go.”
Polworth insists he is thriving in his role at the heart of John Robertson’s midfield, adding: “The manager has been good for me – he is playing me all the time. It gives you that confidence to go out there and just do what you can.”
