Caley Thistle manager John Robertson has told his players their recent upturn in form will count for nothing if they take their eye off the ball against Falkirk tonight.
Inverness host the Bairns knowing they need a result if they’re to have any chance of clinching a playoff spot in the Scottish Championship.
With six games to go, ICT are eight points behind fourth-placed Dundee United with a game in hand.
Robertson said: “This is another massive game for us and our aim now is to take it into the last week of the season.
“If we can continue to get results, against Falkirk and in the two games after that against Dumbarton, then the end of the season will be in our own hands.
“But it becomes irrelevant if you take your eyes off the first one.
“Take enough points to get it to the last week and suddenly we’ve got two massive six-pointers against Dunfermline and Morton.”
It’s been an up-and-down season for Inverness, who struggled to begin with and then found form with a record-breaking defensive run.
There was another dip in form after Christmas but they have claimed three wins and a draw against champions-elect St Mirren in their last four matches since lifting the Irn Bru Cup by beating Dumbarton last month.
“We got off to a poor start and a lot of the players didn’t really know each other. We had a lot of a new faces,” Robertson said.
“There were a few players still feeling the after-effects of relegation as well. It has taken us a while to adjust to how we want to play but we’ve tinkered, we started off with a formation that didn’t really work but we changed things.
“That’s what you have got to do, you evolve as a team and evolve as a coach.”
The remaining six matches will be played over a frantic final 18 days of the league season and follow a period where ICT have just played five times in 15 days, culminating with an impressive 2-0 win against Queen of the South in Dumfries on Saturday.
Robertson added: “It’s about managing the players’ energy levels and training now.
“Especially going from Saturday to Tuesday because the bus didn’t get back on Saturday until 10.30pm at night.
“This will be a tough match against Falkirk. They’ve been playing well and Saturday’s defeat was their first for a while and came in a derby match, so Paul Hartley won’t be happy about it.”
Inverness have everyone available to play, with no injuries or suspensions.
