Captain Graeme Shinnie wants to end his Caley Thistle career on a high by helping his club lift the Scottish Cup in May.
Inverness reached the quarter-finals with a 2-1 victory against Partick Thistle at Firhill on Saturday, and will find out their opponents in today’s draw.
Shinnie will leave at the end of the season, having signed a pre-contract agreement with Aberdeen, but after seven years with the Caley Jags the defender is determined to finish strongly by lifting the club’s first major silverware.
Shinnie said: “It would be brilliant, the perfect way to bow out, but we’ve got a long way to go.
“There’s no reason, if we get a good draw, why we can’t go all the way and win it. I won the First Division with Inverness and we have been close, last season we lost the League Cup on penalties to Aberdeen and it was so frustrating and disappointing. We’ve got a similar team to what we had then, so the hunger and the drive is still there to go on and win this cup.
“A home tie is always good, but if we want to go and win it we’ve got to beat the best. If we play to our full ability we can beat any team on our day, so we’ll take anybody.”
Aside from their cup hopes, Caley Thistle are thriving in the Premiership, sitting in third place and just three points off the summit.
Despite pledging his future to the Dons, Shinnie said the success of his current side has made it easy for him to remain focused on the task at hand.
Shinnie added: “There has been speculation for a couple of years now with me and Aberdeen. I’ve always kept myself focused on my football, my family and my girlfriend to make sure my feet are on the ground. I’m only focused on what I’m doing, and we’re in a strong position now so that’s all I can really think about. I like winning football games, and that’ll never change.
“We’re in a strong position in the league as well, so it’s just a case of keeping it going and making sure we finish the season as strong as we can.
“There’s no pressure, but there’s an emphasis on me making sure the supporters know my attitude is spot on, and that I’m fully committed to the team.
“We’re right up there in among it. We fell away a bit last season come this time, and as the stand-in captain it’s up to me to keep driving the players forward to make sure they’re fully focused on what we want to do.”