Caley Thistle interim coach Billy Dodds feels the Highlanders cannot look beyond the short-term focus of maintaining their place in the Championship.
Dodds has been brought in to temporarily assist caretaker boss Neil McCann, who has taken charge while manager John Robertson and assistant Scott Kellacher are absent from the club.
A run of one win from 13 league games has left seventh-placed Inverness six points adrift of the promotion play-off places, with only goal difference keeping them off the relegation zone.
Dodds is determined to spark an improvement in form with a win in tonight’s trip to Raith Rovers, in order to move Caley Jags up the table.
He said: “With working with the boys even in two days, I can see there’s quality here. I think it’s one step at a time.
“Getting into the promotion play-offs would be a huge bonus, but I think it’s making sure this club is in the Championship next year.
“If we start looking too far ahead, we can get caught up in it. It’s having that experience to say one step at a time.
“We’ve got a big game against Raith Rovers and we will be looking to get a win, then we can maybe start thinking beyond.
“This is step-by-step. If we are sitting where we are on 21 points, and I know we are only six off the play-offs, but if we start looking towards those play-offs we can start losing our focus.
“I think this is short-term mentality just now. Whether it’s my job or Neil’s job, or just how we are going through the job stage to stage.
“If we start looking at play-offs we could lose focus easily.
“We are in a dogfight. We are well capable of getting out of that dogfight, the players have been great, but it’s a game-by-game basis.
“We need something to happen to propel us on to the next level.”
Dodds has a pre-existing working relationship with McCann, who he played alongside for Dundee, Rangers and the Scotland national team.
The 52-year-old feels the pair share a common enthusiasm for the game, adding: “Neil was a 16-year-old boy at Dundee when I was playing there, and then I roomed with him for three years at Rangers.
“I know what he brings. I know his desire for the game and what he wants to achieve, and I’m very similar to that.
“In my first two training days, I just want the boys to be responsive. Although it was only a point on Friday, it was a good performance against one of the top teams in the Championship.
“By getting that good performance, they are coming in in good spirits. I have loved getting to meet them and the response I’ve had has been great.
“Hopefully they can take that into the game and get a result that will set us off.”
Dodds has returned to coaching for the first time since 2017 when he was sacked by Ross County, where he served as assistant to Jim McIntyre.
Having remained in the Highlands, Dodds has since undertaken a media role which has involved him taking in a number of Inverness’ matches.
Dodds feels his familiarity with the Caley Jags playing squad can work to his advantage, adding: “If you take a job and you don’t know the players, it’s tough.
“You are picking up things day by day, and I’m still doing that here. But from looking at games and knowing players, and knowing what to expect from them, it’s a huge bonus.
“I have watched them twice in the last week with the Morton game and Raith Rovers game on Friday night.
“It’s a huge bonus coming into this job knowing a bit about the club and the players. It has helped me enormously.”
