Caley Thistle midfielder Aaron Doran says a Championship victory over Dundee today would show Inverness have no intention of relinquishing their grip on second place.
Inverness go into the match three points ahead of James McPake’s men, with the Dark Blues eager to grasp the opportunity to move level in second with a home victory.
With 14 points separating Caley Jags from runaway league leaders Dundee United, Doran accepts his side have it all to do in their efforts to challenge for the title.
The Irishman is determined to remain the Tannadice’s closest challengers, however, and he said: “Dundee are right behind us now, so it is a massive game. We need to start pulling away from teams behind us.
“We’re taking it a game at a time. We know Dundee United are pretty far ahead now, so we have to try to hang on to second place.
“We’ve definitely improved and progressed. We’ve been going on little mini-runs of three or four games and then losing to teams we’re probably expected to beat. That’s the one disappointing aspect.
“If we can go again, on a four, five or six match winning run, we can see where we are.
“That’s what we want to do – hold on to second place and try to pick up as many points as we can, and see where we end up.”
With such a small gap between the sides in the table, Doran expects a tight encounter at Dens Park, with the 28-year-old adding: “We know we’re facing a good team in Dundee. Last time we played them, they passed the ball really well. They probably had more possession than us, but we had a good gameplan that day. We countered well.
“It was a good result. Hopefully it is something similar this weekend, but we know they have quality players, so we will need to be at the top of our game.
“They’ll be lifted by their draw with Dundee United. In the two games before that, they were beaten pretty easily by United so I think they are a bit stronger now and have brought in some good players.
“It will be difficult at the weekend, away from home, but if we play the way we can play and put last week behind us then I’m sure it will be a good game.”
Doran’s goal was the difference when Inverness faced Dundee at Caledonian Stadium in November, and the ex-Blackburn player is determined to add to his tally of six goals so far this term.
He added: “The last five or six weeks, I’ve been happy. Obviously I wasn’t against Arbroath last weekend, but there weren’t many performances out there – it was disappointing for everyone.
“I want to try to get to double figures again this season.”
