Lewis Hyde grew up idolising Billy Mckay and Aaron Doran, so it is a pinch-me moment to be playing alongside them at Caley Thistle.
Hyde has been at the club since the age of nine, coming through its “hotshots” programme as a youngster and getting to meet those he would one day line up alongside.
His breakthrough into the first-team came in the chaotic end to last season, where he was trusted by head coach Billy Dodds in the eventful, but ultimately fruitless, pursuit of promotion.
When injuries and suspensions piled up, Hyde was given his opportunity and it was those misfortunes for others which saw him pitched in against Cove Rangers on Saturday, out of position at right-back.
Taking the field alongside Mckay and Doran, two stalwarts of Caley Thistle’s most successful period, has a touch of the surreal about it.
“It’s unbelievable, even just coming into training every day and getting the craic with them,” said Hyde. “There’s photos of me at hotshots – that I’ve shown them – when I wasn’t very big and they were coaching me.
“Now I’m playing with them. They’ve said I make them feel so old.”
Hyde has been at the club since the age of nine, working his way through the age-group teams while still at school at Fortrose Academy. Alongside his family, he was a paid-up punter in the stands before turning out on the pitch for his boyhood club.
“It’s always been Caley Thistle,” he said. “I was a season-ticket holder from when I joined. Me, mum and dad went to the games and now I can get them into the main stand, as we used to be in the north stand.
“We didn’t really do away games, but did everything else – Scottish Cup finals, semi-finals, League Cup finals, you name it. I was there for it all.
“To play with guys like Billy and Aaron – these are the guys I grew up watching. Now I’m on the park with them.”
A back spasm for David Carson and a head injury sustained by Wallace Duffy handed Hyde an opening against newly-promoted Cove and the 20-year-old slotted in seamlessly in the back four.
“I’ll do anything for the team – I just love playing,” said Hyde. “If that’s where the gaffer wants me to play, I’m happy to.
“I’ve got to bide my time, like Saturday where I got a bit lucky with injuries and head-knocks. I’ve just got to prove my point, but that’s up to me.
“The manager said to bide my time and take my chance when I get it. That’s all I can do and that’s what the experienced players here did when they were young.”
Caley Thistle came as close as they have been to sealing a return to the Premiership last season, after taking St Johnstone into the final 45 minutes of the campaign before the Perth side overwhelmed their jaded opponents.
As the club starts their sixth season in the second-tier, it feels about time to end their absence from the top table.
“The first two games were ice-breakers, with two disappointing draws, but we’ve dug in and done well at Arbroath,” said Hyde. “We needed a win to get us kick-started for the rest of the season and that’s a good base to kick on for the rest of the season.
“There’s a spark of magic about this club in the Premiership, with everything we’ve achieved there. I think that’s where we deserve to be.
“We got that wee taste of it at the end of last season, where there was a bit of magic around the club and everyone is together. We’ve got a really good bunch of lads and we’re all determined to get up there.”
