Billy Mckay is proud of being Caley Thistle’s outright record scorer – now he’s focused on firing the Championship club back to form.
It’s very early days in the season, but Tuesday’s 3-2 defeat in the Viaplay Cup against fellow second-tier opponents Airdrieonians saw them exit at the group stages with one game to go.
Last week’s 2-1 defeat by League Two Dumbarton means even if they beat Premiership Dundee on Sunday, they cannot reach the seven points minimum they would need to squeeze through as one of the threebest runners-up.
Mckay’s spot-kick leveller against Airdrie, which came seven days after he matched Dennis Wyness record of 101 club goals, offered ICT hope after Charlie Gilmour had pulled them back into the tie from being 2-0 down.
78' | 2-2
GOALLLLLLLLLLLLLL! BILLY MCKAY SCORES THE PENALTY!
HE BECOMES THE CLUB'S RECORD SCORER! pic.twitter.com/zoJIyIEsh4
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) July 25, 2023
However, ex-ICT forward Nikolay Todorov popped up with the winner to put the Diamonds on the brink of qualification after three straight victories.
Relief and pride after scoring penalty
Mckay admits getting the record-breaking goals is a weight off his shoulders – and he wants to keep hitting the net.
He said: “It’s good to get over the line so early in the season. I didn’t really want it to be hanging over me and go on a run with everyone talking about it.
“Hopefully I can kick on and keep scoring throughout the rest of the season.”
“It was definitely something I wanted to get early in the season, and getting two goals early in the season is good.
“The big picture is there, and the results obviously haven’t been as good as we hoped for, so we’ve got a lot to work on and talk about, and a lot to try and improve before the start of the league campaign (on August 5 at home to Queen’s Park).”
Terry Butcher kept faith in Mckay
The former Northern Ireland international, who was signed by Terry Butcher in 2011, is in his third spell with the Highland capital club.
He is grateful to Butcher for showing faith in him after a slow start – and he’s never looked back.
He said: “I think if people were told that I’d be the record holder after my first season at the club not many would have believed it.
“I think I only got three goals in my first season, and I only really started playing after Christmas.
“A lot of people were surprised when Terry Butcher offered me a new two-year deal, but obviously he saw something in me in training and the games I played.
“Thankfully over the next couple of seasons I kicked on, and I’ve come back to the club three times now, so it shows what it means to me.
“Obviously in the summer there was a bit of speculation, but I always wanted to stay and I’m glad it got done and I’ve been able to break the record.”
Premiership is prime target for ICT
Mckay’s future was up in the air this summer as Ayr United tabled an offer and other clubs showed an interest in snapping up the 34-year-old.
However, he signed a new two-year deal and he hopes there could be another forward to come in to challenge his impressive scoring numbers.
He added: “It’s obviously great to get it (the record) done, and hopefully someone can come along and beat me quicker than I beat Dennis.
“That would mean the club has a great striker who is scoring a lot of goals and helping the club like I have.
“I’ve had some great times here in the past, and I know I’m getting on a bit now in age, but I really want to help the club get back into the Premiership – that’s my next target now.”
Now all set for 250th ICT appearance
And he’s scored these 102 goals in 249 games as he gets poised for another milestone if he plays at Dundee this Sunday.
He said of that appearance stat: “It’s not bad, I’ll take that.
“Any striker getting under one in three goals is doing well, and I’m on about one in two and-a-half.
“Along the way I could have scored more, but I could have missed more as well. I’m always a striker that puts myself in there, even when I’m not scoring.
“I try to get into the right places and try to get the ball in the net, and thankfully I’ve managed to do that quite a few times.”
