Caley Thistle defender Brad Mckay will take fond goalscoring memories with him when he makes the trip to Somerset Park for today’s game against Ayr United.
Mckay netted the only goal of the game within four minutes of coming on as a substitute in a league encounter in April 2019, which helped John Robertson’s men all but seal a place in the play-offs.
The match came just a week prior to Caley Jags’ Scottish Cup semi-final against Hearts, which fellow defender Coll Donaldson was suspended for.
Mckay was initially rested for the Ayr clash as a precaution for the Hampden Park tie, which the Jambos won 3-0, however, an injury to Donaldson saw him called upon.
The 27-year-old revealed his arrival on the field was delayed by a problem with his tracksuit, but he was pleased his goalscoring impact justified Robertson’s patience.
Mckay said: “I came on and scored and there’s a story behind that.
“I wasn’t supposed to play because of the semi-final coming up, and Coll Donaldson was suspended. The manager didn’t want to play me because they needed me for the semi-final, and if I got hurt we would have been missing myself and Coll.
“Coll hurt his back and I was going to go on. The manager told me to hurry up, but I couldn’t get my tracksuit unzipped.
“He turned around and asked if I was ready, and I said “yes”, but the zip was still jammed. I had four boys on the bench trying to burst it open for me.
“When I went on, I had my training top underneath my strip, my shin-pads weren’t even on properly, but then the next thing I scored. Hopefully I can continue that.”
Inverness have a strong record against Ayr, with only one defeat in 10 matches since the Honest Men were promoted from League One in 2018.
Mckay expects an expansive game which he reckons will suit his side, and he added: “They are a threatening side going forward. We’ve had a good record against them in the past.
“It’s something I have in my mind that we usually do well against them, so I’m confident we can go down and get a result.
“I always think we seem to do better against the teams that have a go at us. We seem to create goals and chances.
“It’s the teams that camp in that we struggle to get goals against.
“We always had good games against Dundee United and Livingston when they were in the league, and Ayr as well.
“It ends up like a game of basketball at times. Sometimes we need to calm it down and control the game.
“It’s always better games when they have a go at us. I believe they will do that and I believe we will create chances.”
