Caley Thistle youngsters Cameron Harper and Roddy MacGregor can follow Ryan Christie’s lead all the way into the Scotland squad.
That’s the view of ICT head coach Billy Dodds as he spoke about the 19-year-olds signing new contracts to stay with the Championship leaders until the summer of 2024.
Both players have been called into the national under-21 set-up, featuring in friendlies against Northern Ireland this summer.
Ex-Inverness star Christie left his home city in 2015 to enjoy six sparkling, trophy-laden years with Celtic and he just joined Championship side Bournemouth, reportedly for £2.5million.
He’s become a key player for Scotland, who this week moved into second spot in their World Cup qualifying group with a 1-0 win in Austria. Christie came off the bench for to earn his 23rd cap.
Youngsters should aim for Scotland
Former Scotland striker Dodds sees no reason why defender Harper and attacking midfielder MacGregor cannot reach for the stars on the back of securing their club futures.
He said: “I am delighted that the two of them have signed and we said all along at this club with the youngsters coming through you have seen them come and go.
“We can only start with Ryan Christie playing for Scotland the other night. That is the aim for players at this club, that is where they can go.
“Roddy and Cammy are two of those players and there is so much good news coming out of the club just now and even coming back from training hearing the boys it is thriving and that is what I wanted and that is what I want to keep going and hoping to do Saturday.”
Fringe players made Dodds take note
This weekend, Caley Thistle’s 100 per cent league record is again on the line as second-placed Partick Thistle head north.
That fixture comes on the back of last week’s SPFL Trust Trophy tie, in which ICT won 4-0 against Buckie Thistle after making 10 selection changes.
Dodds was keeping specific details about this weekend’s team under wraps.
He added: “Those players have done exactly what I asked them to do, which was to make me think about them. The competition is tough here and that’s the way I wanted it.
“We can’t forget the run we’ve been on either. I’m fair to players and the players realise that. Some will be disappointed, but that’s the way it has to be. I will also be fair going forward when it comes to team selection.”
Win over Killie was best for Dodds
The last league outing was the 1-0 win at Kilmarnock which shot ICT top of the pack and Dodds felt that particular result on the back of 1-0 victories against Arbroath, Raith Rovers and Ayr United was the pick of the bunch.
He said: “It was our best performance of the season at Kilmarnock and we looked up for the game and the way we saw it out. I was calm and we had the feeling we were going to get the three points out of the game.”
