Billy Mckay shot Caley Thistle into third spot in the Championship – now he wants to hit second place to give their promotion hopes a massive lift.
The Northern Irishman struck the late clincher in the 2-1 comeback victory at ninth-placed Hamilton Accies on Tuesday, which moved the Highlanders above Partick Thistle and Ayr United in the standings.
The fixture was brought forward from April 29 – when ICT face Falkirk in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden – and, as a result, Inverness have now played one more match than all their promotion rivals.
They are just four points behind their weekend visitors: league leaders Dundee.
Only an unlikely set of results would give ICT a sensational title chance, however, there would be an opening for a runners-up place should second-placed Queen’s Park – three points better off the Caley Thistle as things stand – drop points against Ayr on Friday.
Last season, Inverness, who finished third, came through six play-off games overall, including losing the final to St Johnstone.
The 6-2 aggregate loss doesn’t tell the full story as Saints scored four second half goals in the second leg after it was locked at 0-0 following a stirring 2-2 draw in Inverness.
But the weary Inverness squad were dead on their feet and Mckay knows having two less fixtures by virtue of finishing second is a real incentive as they look to seal promotion this time around.
Mckay said: “Second place would be huge because of the way the play-offs are designed.
“It’s not really designed for a team that finishes third or fourth to go up. You are playing games every three or four days and it can take a toll on you.
“Last season we were probably 45 minutes away from the Premiership.
“Hopefully, we can keep it going, if we can snatch second place, it would be great because we would get an extra week off.
“But there are still two huge games to go because we have to play Dundee and Ayr, who have been right up there all season.”
Momentum building like last season
Caley Thistle have won their last six matches, winning eight out of nine overall.
Mckay – who has bagged 17 for the season including two in his last two games, and whose 98-goal tally is just three fewer than club record scorer Dennis Wyness – sees similarities in their form to 12 months ago when they stormed all the way to the play-off final showdown with the Perth Saints.
He said: “It’s similar to last year where we went on a run at the end of the season.
“Obviously, we are disappointed we are not fighting for the league because we believe we are good enough.
“It was the same last year where we had a period in the middle where we didn’t win for eight or nine games and it killed us.
“But the momentum is great at the moment.
“I think we should be closer to the top of the league, and we are now because of that sticky spell in the middle.
“We will try and beat Dundee on Saturday and put the pressure right back on them.”
Strong mentality on show once more
Against Cove Rangers and Hamilton, Inverness have struck back to net three points after conceding a second-half opener and Mckay reckons, while it is not the most comfortable way to win, it does show their strong mindset, which boss Billy Dodds spoke about on Tuesday night.
Mckay said: “Ideally, we don’t want to go 1-0 down and I think we can make it easier for ourselves by taking our chances
“But it just shows the character at the moment – that’s now six wins in a row, but we have to keep the momentum going.
“We still have a big season ahead of us and we believe we are right in the mix in the play-offs and the Scottish Cup.
“But first we have a big game on Saturday now.”
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GOALLLLLLLLLLLL! BILLY MCKAY PUTS US AHEAD! pic.twitter.com/vOJVTVzgWe
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) April 18, 2023
Overdue promotion tops cup target
Mckay would love to be holding the Scottish Cup aloft after beating Rangers or Celtic on June 3.
However, when asked whether winning a place in the Premiership or lifting the cup would be his preference, he said: “Promotion to be honest.
“Obviously, the Scottish Cup takes care of itself.
“If you said to win it, I might think again, but even if we get to the final it is going to be very, very, very tough.
“Promotion for the club would be huge and it is well overdue for the club (since being relegated in 2017).
“We are disappointed we are not top of the league and fighting for it, but we can still put pressure on them.”
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