Caley Thistle will do everything possible to avoid selling off stars – despite electricity costs surging through the six-figure mark.
The Championship club – who have nine players sidelined through injury at the moment – is battling to remain competitive and in the promotion chase.
Ahead of Saturday’s home clash with joint-second-placed Dundee, ICT are six points behind leaders Ayr United after the first 16 fixtures.
The Highlanders added to their numbers at the weekend with the signing of free agent defender Ryan Barrett, and to remain in contention for a step-up, they need to retain their prize assets.
Last term, the club reached the promotion play-off final, when they were beaten by St Johnstone over two legs.
Swatting away reported bids of around £150,000 for centre half Robbie Deas from the Perth Saints in January was seen as vital as Billy Dodds’ side surged into third position.
Unit costs spiral from 14p to 63p
Caley Jags chief executive Scot Gardiner has updated fans on the challenges ICT face in terms of energy costs, having spoken last month about the problem heaping “colossal pressure” on clubs.
Gardiner, talking on the latest ICT fans’ podcast, The Wyness Shuffle, detailed the rising costs of electricity, which has put strain on the finances at the Caledonian Stadium.
He said: “We have been trying to get a power utilities deal for the club, which has been one of the most stressful things.
“Everyone is going through it – we’re no different from any other business or from any individual.
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“We’ve been going from 14p per unit to 63p per unit. Imagine the multiples.
“We’re now into six figures for our electricity for the duration of this contract, which is as short as I could sign it for.
“We’ve been speaking to multiple brokers and people all over the country, from Inverness to Burnley and all places in between (about power deals).
“If anyone was at one of our recent home games, the floodlights went off as rapidly as we could switch them off at the end of the game because it is absolutely extortionate and it is going to be extremely painful for us.”
Heat is on – but club want promotion
However, Gardiner pointed out the board are determined to keep key players in order to achieve Caley Thistle’s prime goal – a return to Scottish football’s top table for the first time since 2017.
He added: “If the board, or your owner, are willing to support you, you might not have to (sell a player).
“It puts an enormous amount of pressure on you, because it’s a huge amount of money (we are spending on energy bills).
“It takes us a long time to earn anything like that money. Unless you sell a player, you can’t earn that – that’s not what we want to do.
“We want to win this league to go into the Premiership. That’s why we turned down bids for Robbie Deas last season. It is not our intention to do that at all.”
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