Caley Thistle’s busy upcoming schedule is music to the ears of midfielder David Carson following nearly a year without competitive action.
Englishman Carson has not played since Inverness’ final game of their curtailed campaign last year, in a 3-1 victory over Queen of the South on March 10.
Carson returned to pre-season training ahead of the new campaign starting in October, but suffered a knee injury which has kept him sidelined for several weeks.
Having returned into contention in December, a recent succession of call-offs has prevented Carson from making his comeback.
With tonight’s trip to Arbroath the first of four Championship games in the next 10 days, Carson hopes he will get the chance to quickly regain sharpness after his 11-month playing absence.
Carson said: “I haven’t been on the field for a competitive game yet. Everyone went through the pandemic which was difficult, but then to come in and do my pre-season then pick up an injury before the first friendly was frustrating.
“Going back to when I was injured I was a footballer that wasn’t playing football at the time. I wasn’t able to run, I was having to do a lot of gym work and it was frustrating.
“I have worked hard to get myself fit. I’ve been at this stage for a few weeks now but with the games being called off, I haven’t been able to get into the squads.
“I had just made the last squad before these last four or five games that have been called off.
“I was ready, but it has also given me a lot more training time. The weeks the games have been off I have been training, I have done a few double sessions to keep myself fit.
“We’ve missed a lot of games and we’ve got a lot of catch up games, so hopefully the manager will have to use the squad as much as he can. That might work in my favour to get my chance.
“When it comes, I’ve worked hard so I’ve got to be ready to take it because the boys are doing well at the minute.”
Inverness’ only outing in 2021 so far was a 2-2 draw against 10-man Morton last Wednesday, with the lack of games causing John Robertson’s men to fall seven points adrift of the play-off places.
Carson feels the busy schedule could work into Caley Jags’ favour, adding: “Personally, I wouldn’t mind the Wednesday-Saturday games. If you go on a good run of winning games you’ve got momentum going into each game. It could work into our hands.
“I know there’s going to be a lot of games. The squad will probably be used.
“Hopefully with those games we can have a bit of momentum and carry it into each game.
“If you lose a game on a Saturday, you’ve got to bounce back on the Wednesday.
“As soon as you get a game you want to get out and play whether you have played well or haven’t performed in the last game.
“If you can win on the Saturday you know you’ve got another game on the Wednesday to build momentum. Vice versa, if you don’t put in a good performance on the Saturday you know you can switch it around and put the wrongs right.
“Momentum will be key. Winning games in a short space of time will be good for the squad.”
Carson was part of an Inverness side which went down 3-0 to Arbroath on their last trip to Gayfield in November 2019, and the 25-year-old is wary of Dick Campbell’s side who defeated Morton 1-0 on Saturday.
He added: “Their home record is really good. It’s a tough place to go to. We know exactly what they are going to be like, they are going to be compact and try to frustrate us.
“We are going to have to go down there and put in a performance. We will have to move the ball quick, and the chances we create we have to put them in the net.
“It’s going to be a tough game but the boys are raring to go.”
