Steven Hislop reckons Caley Thistle’s January arrivals can inject a vital freshness into the side as they seek to kick on in the Scottish Cup and the Championship.
The ex-Inverness striker, a key figure in the club winning their first promotion to the top-flight in 2003/04, is keen to see the Highlanders return to the Premiership for the first time since their relegation in 2017.
This weekend, though, they host league leaders Queen’s Park in the fourth-round of the Scottish Cup, just one week after these rivals drew 0-0 at the Caledonian Stadium on league business.
So far during the transfer window, ICT head coach Billy Dodds has brought in 20-year-old St Mirren midfielder Jay Henderson on loan, and signed former Manchester United and Burnley academy midfielder Ben Woods, also 20, until the end of the season.
Dodds is looking to further bolster numbers, but Hislop is sure the duo already in the door will raise the bar as they seek to stay in the promotion chase as well as progress in the cup.
Signings provide extra competition
Hislop, who is assistant boss at high-flying Lowland League contenders Tranent Juniors, said: “Bringing in new faces in January is always good news. Sometimes it can become a wee bit stale and players see the same old faces in the changing room.
“It provides competition for places. Players can’t rest on their laurels and expect to be playing.
“There’s not an awful lot of money at Caley Thistle, but the club always seem to get loan deals over the line and I’m sure Billy will aim to get one or two more in before the end of the transfer window.
“It gives a bit of freshness to the squad and provides a lift to the fans and the players.
“The long-term injured players coming back will also be like new signings for Billy.
“They need to keep themselves in the mix and in the cup on Saturday. That can only be good for the club and the fans.”
Inverness are turning the corner
Before last week’s entertaining goalless draw with Owen Coyle’s Spiders, ICT’s eight-game winless league run came to an abrupt end as they smashed Cove Rangers 6-1 and Arbroath 4-1 to move to within three points of the Championship top four.
Hislop is sure they can build upon their revival and keep the fortunes turning in the right direction.
He added: “Inverness did go on a poor run, by their own standards, and they would have been disappointed with that.
“Billy was under a wee bit of pressure, but they looked to have turned the corner and it was maybe just a confidence thing when they were not winning games.
“Once you get wins, especially like those achieved against Cove and Arbroath, then confidence swells.
“They are not too far off the top of the table and no one is going to run away with the title. There will always be peaks and troughs.
“Inverness just have to keep winning and picking up as many wins as they can, firstly in the cup then take that into their next league game a week on Saturday at Raith Rovers.”
Chance to land glamour cup clash
Under John Hughes, ICT won the coveted Scottish Cup in 2015, but were once viewed as an emerging club capable of causing upsets, with famous wins against Celtic and Hearts among their other cup highlights.
Hislop knows there’s plenty to aim for as they go into the weekend’s tasty tie.
He said: “Caley Thistle have got a good name in the Scottish Cup. When I was there, we had some big results in the competition and, in 2015, they went on to win it.
“It’s all down to the luck of the draw. You never know what you’re going to get.
“If you get through, some managers look for the glamour tie, but most players look for the most winnable matches.
“If they can get past Queen’s Park, they can maybe get some money into the club and maybe get a favourable tie and see where it takes them – all money is good in the coffers.”
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