Danny Devine insists Caley Thistle are far from thinking their Viaplay Cup campaign is over following their shock midweek slip-up at Dumbarton.
The experienced defender, who signed a new one-year deal last month, knows the 2-1 defeat against their League Two hosts means they now must beat Championship rivals Airdrieonians at home on Tuesday and Premiership hosts Dundee a week on Sunday to have any chance of reaching the knockouts.
Last season, only the best three runners-up made it through, and ICT have only their opening day 2-1 win over Bonnyrigg Rose in the bank so far. Dundee and Airdrie each have three points and have a game in hand over ICT.
Devine, 30, who won the Scottish Cup with the Highlanders in 2015, knows only two big performances and results can offer them a chance of getting out of their section for the second successive season.
He said: “Our aim is working towards the first game of the (league) season. We’re putting everything into our League Cup campaign, and we can hopefully still get out of the group.
“We will be going all out to win these two games. We have a week’s rest between the Dumbarton and Airdrie ties.
“Airdrie and Dundee will be tough games, but we have shown in the past when we come up against tough teams, we can pull it out of the bag.
“We were bitterly disappointed for those who travelled to see us. We never got the win for them, but we will look to put that right on Tuesday against Airdrie, who are riding high after their promotion to the Championship.
“It will be interesting to see what they’re like and we can gauge how they are ahead of the league season starting.
“For us, it’s all about us preparing right this week and going all out to win the game.”
Wasteful at both ends costly for ICT
The centre-half, who has also played for Dunfermline Athletic and Partick Thistle, felt Tuesday’s tie at Dumbarton was lost though a mixture of wasteful chances and being punished for two slack moments.
He said: “We created enough chances to win three, four, five games, but it was one of those nights.
“We had a lot of the ball, but switched off twice and they scored two goals, which were sloppy from our point of view. We played well and missed a few chances, so it was a tough one to take.
“It’s really about being ruthless in both boxes. We played really well, but I’d take a win over playing well all day. It’s no consolation, but we just need to keep building.”
Devine: Mckay’s more than a finisher
The bright moment amid a disappointing night for Inverness was forward Billy Mckay’s second half goal, which took his tally for the club to 101 goals – the same as record-holder Dennis Wyness.
Devine was thrilled to see Mckay enter the record books, but stressed his game is based on more than hitting the net with regularity.
He added: “It’s brilliant for Billy. He got one chopped off on Tuesday, which should have stood, but still scored in the second half.
“A lot of people look at Billy and think ‘he’s a small forward’, but the number of goals he’s got is incredible. It’s not just his goals – it’s about his work-rate and build-up outside the box.
“Hopefully he can keep doing the business for us this season and we can see where it takes us.”
Strong competition for places
So far this summer, full-back Jake Davidson, midfielder Charlie Gilmour and attacker Adam Brooks have joined the Caley Jags, with two wide players and potentially trialist forward Harry Lodovica to be added.
After losing defender Robbie Deas, midfielders Scott Allardice and Steven Boyd and striker Shane Sutherland, Devine says the rebuilding work is looking good to date.
He said: “We have replaced the boys who left. The manager has made it clear he still wants one or two more through the door.
“It’s always good to have options. It means boys are fighting for their places and there will be good competition for places.”
