Billy Dodds insists he will do all he can to keep wingers Jay Henderson and Daniel MacKay at Caley Thistle next season.
Both players are on loan at Caledonian Stadium, with Henderson joining from St Mirren in January, while MacKay was farmed back from Hibernian – who the Highlanders sold him to in 2021.
The pair both made a telling impact in Saturday’s 3-0 Scottish Cup semi-final victory over Falkirk, which set up a final showdown against Celtic next month – with MacKay heading Inverness’ second from a Henderson cross, before the former teed-up Billy Mckay for the third.
While Dodds acknowledges their form for Caley Jags will not have gone unnoticed by their parent clubs, he insists he remains hopeful of extending their stay at Inverness.
Admitting he would have loved to play with Henderson and MacKay during his own playing career, ex-striker Dodds said: “You try to build your squad and you are hoping they do well, but not unbelievably well so that their club doesn’t just say: ‘thank you very much, you’ve helped him along in his journey.’
“But they are two good players and you can see why I wanted to bring them here, because I love playing with wingers.
“I needed wingers, because I was slow.
“I was sharp, but I was slow, so if they weren’t crossing the ball to me then I wasn’t scoring goals.
“I’d like to get them back next season. I’d like to do business, but sometimes you lose out.
“Look at Logan Chalmers last year – we lost him and I was gutted, but Dundee United wanted him back. We lost Reece McAleer, too, so you just need to go again.”
Inverness boss insists recruitment work is under way despite promotion uncertainty
Henderson and MacKay are among a number of Caley Jags players whose deals expire this summer.
Inverness are still pushing for promotion to the top flight, and can secure a play-off place with victory over Ayr United on Friday.
Dodds says he already has an eye on his recruitment process, despite not knowing which league his side will be playing in.
He added: “It’s hard – I had my eye on Jay Henderson last year and I couldn’t get him because St Mirren had a Covid outbreak and, if you remember, all the young boys played against Celtic.
“He did well and then scored the next week against Dundee United from about 30 yards, so I missed out on him, and it’s frustrating at times. But every manager will say that.
“You’ve just got to keep digging away, speak to agents.
“My agent helps me out as well, which is great.
“There are a lot of targets, (sporting director and ex-Inverness manager) John Robertson is looking at a few.
“You are just constantly looking at players and then hopefully your choices work out.
“I wouldn’t just sign anyone. If I had a half-decent player and he was a naughty one, I wouldn’t bring him into that dressing room.”
Conversation