Nathan Shaw sees no reason why Caley Thistle cannot upset the odds when they face Livingston in the Scottish Cup this weekend.
The Highlanders were unexpectedly reinstated to the competition following their 2-0 defeat to Queen’s Park last Tuesday.
The Spiders, who are top of the Championship, were thrown out of the competition for fielding on-loan Hearts attacker Euan Henderson, who was ineligible.
Livi are enjoying an excellent campaign, and sit fourth in the Premiership, however Inverness can take confidence from a 2-1 League Cup win on their last visit to Almondvale in July.
Winger Shaw hopes to make the most of the fresh opportunity his side has been handed, with a quarter-final place at stake.
He said: “It has come around unexpectedly, in a bit of a strange way.
“We’ll go to Livingston and just give it our best shot – and see how far we can go in the cup competition.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of.
“We’ve been down there already in the League Cup and we did well.
“Hopefully, if we can bring our best performance with us, we can do the same again.
“Cups are always funny, it’s a different type of game, a one-off, so you can play with no fear and we can see if can get through the tie and land an even bigger team in the next round.”
Caley Thistle seeking to turn draws into wins
The cup tie will change Inverness’ focus from league action, following Saturday’s 2-2 draw against Morton.
Caley Jags were twice forced to come from behind, with goals from Billy Mckay and youngster Ethan Cairns securing a point.
The result means Billy Dodds’ men drop to sixth place, although they are now just a point adrift of the play-off spots.
Inverness are undefeated in five league matches in 2023 however Shaw is keen to rediscover a winning formula, having drawn the last three matches.
The Englishman added: “Overall, in the end it was a good point after coming from behind twice.
“There’s a lot of improvement and while we’re not delighted, we’re happy enough to keep the run going.
“It is obviously a tight league and if you can win a few games you don’t know where it is going to take you.
“All we can do is focus each week on getting those three points and who knows where we could end up.”
Winger made instant impact against Morton
Shaw’s introduction at half-time sparked a strong start to the second period for Inverness, who had trailed 1-0 at the interval.
The 22-year-old, who joined from Fylde in the summer, was pleased to play his part in an improved display.
He added: “We made changes at half-time and the tempo increased. It caught them a bit by surprise I think and that’s where the goal came from.
“The manager spoke to us at the break and we knew we definitely needed more.
“In the first half, there wasn’t much tempo. We were getting deliveries into the box, but we needed to do more.
“Raising our game in the second half took us right back into the game.”
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