Match-winner Billy Mckay reckons Caley Thistle have earned the right to be in the thick of the action at the top of the Championship.
The striker’s second-half goal saw off pace-setters Partick Thistle 1-0 on Friday night at the Caledonian Stadium as ICT joined the Jags on 17 points.
Ayr United made it a three-way tie for top spot after their 5-0 rout of Queen’s Park.
Caley Thistle’s win made it four straight victories after away wins against three other strong rivals, Raith Rovers, Dundee and Ayr United.
Mckay, whose 85 goals make him the club’s second-highest all-time scorer behind Dennis Wyness (101), feels coming through tricky away contests unscathed is a massive achievement as they hunt for the title.
He said: “It was a great three points for us. We’ve won four successive league games and that could be really important.
“We didn’t start the season off in the best way then we faced three away games – at Raith Rovers, Dundee and Ayr – and you might think our tough start would continue, but we’ve won those games and we followed it up on Friday against Partick.
“Those were all hard-fought away games and we didn’t play too well at times, but that’s what you need to do in this league.
“I’ve been here before got promoted (with Ross County) and when you’re winning games when you don’t play well, that’s a good sign.”
Patience paid off against 10-man Jags
Partick’s Kyle Turner was sent off five minutes before the break for a careless challenge on Roddy MacGregor.
Mackay felt the Highlanders were worthy of the points due to the way then went about their business – before and after the red card.
He said: “Even when Partick had 11 men, we were playing well. We looked more likely to score and I had a chance in the first half.
“At times, when we’ve faced teams who have gone down to 10 men, we’ve struggled to break them down.
“But, this time, we were patient and we got the goal, which was great. It was encouraging how we moved the ball well and used that extra player on the other side of the pitch.”
Harper’s goals welcomed by Mckay
Mckay’s strike brought him level on five goals with not only a team-mate, but arguably one of the Championship’s big risers, Cammy Harper.
And Mckay has been impressed with the 20-year-old and welcomes the contribution from the defender-turned-midfielder.
He said: “If Cammy keeps scoring, that’s great for the team. We need everyone to chip in.
“He’s been great since he moved into midfield and he was unlucky with a great shot against Partick and the keeper (David Mitchell) made a great save.”
Mckay’s winner came when he buried the ball amid a busy penalty box and the forward was relieved to see it fly in.
He said: “When the ball fell to me, I looked up and I just saw bodies in front of me. I put my head down and hit it as hard as I could and thankfully it went through a defender and the goalkeeper to hit the back of the net. I was delighted.”
Words of advice for winger MacKay
On-loan Hibs ace Daniel MacKay’s cross led to Friday’s winner and the former Northern Ireland international said the winger, who was man of the match, can get even better.
He added: “Even when we were against 11 men, Dan was dangerous. He put in a number of crosses and had shots and, when he’s like that he can be unstoppable.
“Dan will face times when teams double up on him and that will be a challenge for him.
“That’s when you need to just learn to move the ball and, if he does that, he’s done his job because we’ve created an overload somewhere else on the pitch.
“He was fantastic on Friday and, if he can continue doing that, I am sure I can get on a few more of his crosses.”
ICT ready for testing Cove encounter
On Saturday, ICT head to the Balmoral Stadium to face Jim McIntyre’s Cove Rangers side.
Inverness ran out 4-1 winners in the league meeting at the Caledonian Stadium in August, but Cove did take them all the way to spot-kicks before losing the shoot-out in the Premier Sports Cup in July.
Back-to-back wins against Arbroath and Dundee lifted Cove, although the weekend’s 3-0 loss at Raith Rovers was a set-back.
Mckay expects nothing other than a challenging 90 minutes at the Balmoral Stadium, but stressed their own form gives them belief they can come along the A96 with three points.
He said: “Cove have improved since the start of the season. They’ve changed some of their starting line-up and this will be a completely different game for us.
“However, we’ve won our last four games, so we believe we can beat anyone.”
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