Caley Thistle matchwinner Cammy Harper insists they can’t afford to ditch their desire to win as they close in on the promotion play-offs.
The versatile player delivered a terrific right-foot strike to seal a 2-1 comeback victory for ICT at basement hosts Cove Rangers to make it five straight Championship wins in a row.
The Scottish Cup semi-finalists, who play Falkirk at Hampden on April 29, have now won seven of their last eight games overall and are level on points with Ayr United, but just behind the Honest Men on goal difference.
Partick Thistle, in third spot, are one point in front of ICT, who can take their place should they leave second-bottom Hamilton Accies with a win on Tuesday night.
No slip-ups is order of the day for ICT
Harper, now with seven goals this season, explained they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas in order to realise their ambitions in final part of the campaign.
71' | 1-2
GOALLLLLLLLLL! CAMERON HARPER PUTS US AHEAD! pic.twitter.com/eMEbb7ooBP
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) April 15, 2023
He said: “You see how results are going. Dundee scored late on to get a 3-3 draw (with Morton) on Saturday and you can see how top it is at the top of the league.
“We want to be in those play-offs. We’ve just got to make sure we maintain this winning habit.
“We just need to be obsessed with winning. It doesn’t matter how we win, as long as we win to put ourselves where we want to be.
“The rewards are massive for us – we want to be in the play-offs.
“We had that middle-season blip. If we could have weathered the storm, then it might have been a different story.
“We are in this position, and we know what we need to do. We need to keep winning games to put ourselves in there.”
💬 Barry Wilson gives his thoughts following this afternoon's 2-1 win against Cove Rangers
Full Interview 👉 https://t.co/4aMmioQVoe pic.twitter.com/YmyZTCTaya
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) April 15, 2023
Right-foot improvement from Harper
First-team coach Barry Wilson joked it was a rare right-foot strike from highly-rated Harper to win the clash at Cove and the player himself was thrilled to score it.
He said: “I didn’t expect it either, to be honest.
“Actually, I said to my dad a few weeks ago I think I’m getting better with my right foot.
“I saw Aaron Doran was in a bit of space and I told Billy (Mckay) to go away, so I could be on the edge of the box. I just chopped, hit it and hoped for the best and it has gone in, so I’m delighted with that.
“Recently I said I wanted to add a few more goals before the end of the season and the one on Saturday got us three points, so I’m delighted with that.”
Inverness ‘can play a lot better’
Caley Thistle were far from their best at Cove, but got the job done in the end, by responding to Vigurs’ fine opening goal from a free-kick, with Billy Mckay’s penalty levelling the match.
Harper admits how they won matters less than just putting three more points on the board.
He added: “It wasn’t the best game to play in and you’ll have seen us play a lot better this season.
“Games like Saturday are part and parcel of football. I have been full-time for five or six years and sometimes you just need to find a way of winning, it doesn’t matter how.”
By the time April ends, ICT will have played seven games this month. Harper feels that’s why the entire squad needs to be at their best.
He said: “The heavy run of fixtures is maybe why the game was the way it was on Saturday. It wasn’t a nice game to watch or play in.
“I sensed the boys were maybe a bit leggy after playing on Tuesday and we go again this Tuesday down at Hamilton.
“We have all the games coming in quick succession, but it’s a team game and you need all of your squad. Robbie Deas got a wee rest on Saturday then he came on and contributed.
“Everyone has to play their part to take us to where we want to be come the end of the season.”
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