Caley Thistle assistant manager Russell Latapy has been impressed with former team-mate Paul Hartley’s success at Dundee, but is determined to dent his old comrade’s progress when the sides meet at Dens Park tomorrow.
Dundee will be full of confidence after knocking Aberdeen out of the Scottish Cup last weekend, while Caley Thistle also have reason for optimism after beating St Mirren 4-0 in a fourth-round replay on Tuesday.
Latapy said: “When I played at Hibs, Paul was just coming into the team and I’m sure he didn’t play as much as he wanted to. He was in and out of the team but he was a fantastic footballer. He went on to Celtic and Scotland and had a fantastic career. He was a great player with great energy.
“Paul has come up to the Premiership and done a great job with Dundee. They’re sitting on 20 points and that’s a really comfortable place to be.
“I’m sure he’s thinking like everyone else that it’s a long way to go until the end of the season but he will be fairly happy with the way things are going, although there’s always room to improve.
“They’ve been doing really well and are coming off a good victory against Aberdeen in the cup. We had a good victory in the replay and I’m sure we’re both looking forward to it.”
Hartley was among the contenders to replace Terry Butcher when he left Inverness to take the Hibs job last season but was pipped to the post by John Hughes. Caley Thistle’s form dipped when Hughes took over but they have made an impressive start to the season and are second in the Premiership after 14 matches.
The doubters may have been proved wrong but Latapy knows there is a lot of work to be done before his side can be assured of a successful campaign.
He said: “We’ve always had a belief this is the way we want our team to play. This is the way football should be played and we’re fortunate we’ve got a great group of players who have taken everything on board. The proof is in the way we play. Hopefully, at the end of the season we’ll be in a good situation.”
Caley Thistle have no fresh injury worries ahead of the trip to Dens Park.
Latapy added: “It will be our third game in seven days but everyone is fit and ready to go.”