David Carson hopes a little extra rest time can help him and his Caley Thistle team-mates fly out the traps this season.
The 27-year-old, who can play right-back or in his natural midfield berth, racked up an impressive 45 games for Inverness last term, with injuries biting deep into Billy Dodds’ squad as they chased down promotion.
In the end, they fell short with a sixth-placed Championship finish, but a run to the Scottish Cup final and a 3-1 defeat against Celtic in early June led to a potentially short breather for the players.
However, Dodds and his staff allowed the team time off until early July and Carson explained he’s already feeling the benefits of coming back after a slightly longer rest period.
He said: “It was funny because there was a point after the end of last season where I maybe tried to get back to work a little bit too soon in an effort to build myself up for pre-season.
“I could feel it in myself a little bit when I tried to get going. I was still a bit sore after the long season.
“Once you get through that first bit, your body starts to really kick into action and get going again.
“There were a lot of injuries and a lot of boys who played an awful lot of matches.
“Now personally, I feel really refreshed and ready to go.
“The preparation we’ve done has been really well controlled by the staff here.
“We were advised to have 10-14 days off before we got back to doing a bit of work.
“The 10 days was maybe a bit short for me, so I took a little extra.
“That helped me generally. You know your own body better than anyone else.
“I feel I’ve done the right thing and I’m ready and refreshed to go.”
Dumbarton will be stern test for ICT
Inverness kicked off their Viaplay Cup group campaign with a 2-1 win at home to League Two visitors Bonnyrigg Rose on Saturday, with midfielder Aaron Doran netting both goals.
It’s a trip to League Two hosts Dumbarton now for ICT on Tuesday, with the Sons losing two late goals in a 2-0 loss at Airdrieonians in their first tie at the weekend.
Carson knows the Caley Jags will need to once again dig deep to get the victory they need before facing Airdrie and Dundee next week.
He said: “Dumbarton will be well up for it and they need to try and get points on the board. We need to focus on ourselves.
“We’ll go down there and give them respect, but we’ll be looking for three points to put ourselves in a really good position before facing a Championship side in Airdrie and then Dundee.
“We wanted to take six points, get minutes in the legs and stay injury-free and we’re halfway on cue.
“We’ll go down there with a plan and aim for three points, but the boys also want to put minutes in the legs and put themselves in the gaffer’s plans at the start of the (league) season.”
Carson: New players are settling in
Full-back Jake Davidson, midfielder Charlie Gilmour and attacker Adam Brooks are the trio of new signings so far, with more to follow, especially in the wide areas.
Defender Robbie Deas, midfielder Scott Allardice, loanee wingers Dan MacKay and Jay Henderson and forward Shane Sutherland have left Inverness this summer.
Carson said reshuffling personnel is par for the course as ICT get set for another promotion tilt from the second-tier this term.
He said: “We’ve kept a majority of the boys, with one or two moving on and us bringing in a few replacements.
“It is all about helping those boys settle in and they’re doing really well.
“The squad we have is really strong and we will strive to be better than we were last year.
“We’re looking to try and go one better and build on what we’ve done in the last two seasons, which ultimately saw us come up short.
“Myself and the rest of the boys are determined to get out of this league.
“If you look around the squad, we’ve got a lot of competition for places and a lot of versatility, I’d say.
“I’m really happy with the boys who have come in and they’ve settled in well.
“Long may that continue. If they embrace what this club is all about, I’m sure they will have a good season and show their qualities.”
