Mark Ridgers insists Caley Thistle will have no problem lifting themselves for their push for promotion to the Premiership.
Inverness exited the Scottish Cup in Friday’s 5-2 quarter-final defeat to Hibernian at Easter Road, but have a quick return to Championship action at home to Morton tomorrow night.
Caley Jags are second in the table and on course to finish in the promotion play-offs, with their Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup final against Raith Rovers later this month.
Goalkeeper Ridgers says there is plenty for John Robertson’s men still to play for over the rest of the campaign.
He said: “The biggest thing for us is promotion and we have an even bigger game on Tuesday.
“We all know it was a good cup run and we’ll all refocus and try to cement second in the league.
“March will determine that. We have a lot of league fixtures to the Challenge Cup final – so we are targeting maximum points from these games, aiming to finish second and, if given any chance at all, close the gap to Dundee United.”
Despite the congested fixture list, Ridgers is confident the Highlanders can rise to the challenge. He said: “I remember my first season here when we won the Challenge Cup and had a similarly busy schedule and were sitting just outside the play-offs. We used that month to win eight out of 10 games and only missed the play-offs by a point.
“We have a small squad, as we could see by the young boys on the bench at Easter Road, but we believe we can build momentum, approach every game positively and see where it takes us.
“You want to play as many games as you can and we’ve been given a great opportunity to play all these games in March – seven, including the final – and we want to take it.
“The cup run, even going back to reaching the Scottish Cup semis last year, has been incredible, but that’s gone now and we want to give ourselves the best chance possible to get promoted.”
Former Hearts and St Mirren keeper Ridgers feels his side can take heart from their last-eight tie against a Hibs side sitting sixth in the Premiership.
He added: “The positives are that we created chances against a good side.
“They’ve really picked up since Jack Ross came in and changed the fortunes.
“We can take plenty from this game in terms of how we played.”
