Scott Allardice believes defeat to Morton was the turning point in Caley Thistle’s season.
Inverness head for Cappielow tonight, having won their last five games, a run which has seen them move within a point of the promotion play-off places in the Championship and progress to the Scottish Cup fourth round.
It has been a sparkling return to form for the Highlanders, who dropped to ninth in the Championship after a loss at home to Morton on March 9.
At that stage Caley Thistle were in a relegation battle, but now they are looking up the table rather than down.
Midfielder Allardice said: “That was the turning point, 100 per cent. That was the realisation that we are in the midst of it right now, and it wasn’t where we wanted to be.
“We knew as a collective, if we were all honest with ourselves, that it wasn’t good enough for weeks.
“But that was the point our games in hand had gone, and you see the table and we were right in amongst it.
“Since then we’ve kicked on, and it was maybe the kick up the backside we needed, because we were struggling, and we really needed to start winning games or else we were going to be in a relegation battle.”
Solid defensive base
After defeat to Morton, Allardice says the Caley Thistle players spoke about the need for a change in their fortunes.
He believes one of the reasons for the upturn in form has been solid defensive displays which have given Inverness a platform to build from.
Caley Thistle have kept clean sheets in their last four league fixtures.
The 23-year-old added: “To start with when you’re losing games it’s very hard to get any momentum and your confidence takes a hit when you’re losing games, it’s very tough.
“But we spoke after the last Morton game that we were in danger of getting relegated – there was no doubt about it.
“The way we were playing was so bad. For a spell of three games, I think we were very poor and we were losing, which wasn’t a good mixture.
“Now we’ve just got back to basis, we’ve been solid first and foremost and winning games 1-0 and 2-0.
“We haven’t been nicking those games, but we’ve been sturdy at the back and then going and hitting teams at the other end and winning games.
“We’ve been a lot more solid all over the park.”
Building on derby success
Caley Thistle face Morton tonight still on a high after their derby win over Ross County in the third round of the Scottish Cup on Friday night.
Allardice is hoping Inverness can hit similar heights in Greenock against a ‘Ton side they’ve failed to beat in two previous Championship meetings this term.
The former Dundee United, Bohemians and Waterford player said: “It was a great team performance and what a win it was for the boys.
“We’re on a good run and I thought we deserved it and we were buzzing after it.
“But coming away from that there’s not much time to sit on that now, because we’ve got massive games coming up this week.
“It was a massive win on Friday, but it’s time to kick on now.
“It was two or three weeks ago we played them (Morton) at our place, and we were terrible.
“We know what we need to do to go and win the game, and if we show the same application levels and the same quality that we have had in recent weeks, I have no doubt that we’ll stand ourselves a right good chance of getting three points.”
