Defender Morgan Boyes is confident Caley Thistle have the edge needed to build upon their first Championship win of the season.
Partick Thistle are the weekend visitors to Inverness and the 22-year-old, who is on loan from Premiership Livingston, is determined to help the side post successive victories going into the international break.
In what was manager Duncan Ferguson’s debut match in the dug-out, goals from Luis Longstaff, Aaron Doran and Billy Mckay put ICT on the road to their 3-2 win at Gayfield last week. It was a result which took Inverness off the bottom of the league on goal difference.
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‘Training is a lot more intense’
And they way the players opened up their rivals impressed Boyes.
He said: “I think you saw in the gaffer’s first game we are cutting teams open left, right and centre.
“More chances will come. He is putting his philosophy down in training and we’ll see that more and more in games.
“Training is a lot more intense – it is very intense, just graft – hard, fair graft.
“(The win) was a step in the right direction. We just need to take as much as we can, game by game.”
Last two losses could have been wins
It was widely acknowledged Caley Thistle were not playing poorly under former manager Billy Dodds. A last-gasp 1-0 defeat at Raith Rovers cost Dodds and his assistant Barry Wilson their jobs.
It brought their winless run to nine successive games and was the tipping point for the board.
Then, under the caretaker leadership of Charlie Christie and John Robertson, the team were unlucky to lose 1-0 to Dundee United, with another late clincher.
Boyes felt those were fixtures ICT could just as easily have won, but was delighted to have walked away with the win at Gayfield.
That was despite fortune not being with them as Scott Stewart’s wildly deflected shot flew into the net to spark a home revival.
Boyes said: “In the last two games before Arbroath, we probably deserved three points.
“But to finally get it in the fashion we did was a good confidence-booster for the lads.
“I think we dominated a lot of the first half and could have been ahead by a few more.
“That early goal in the second half (from Billy Mckay) should really settle it, but the goals we conceded were of the fashion it has been this season.”
Smooth transition after swift debut
Boyes had not even met his Inverness team-mates when he was asked to debut in a 1-1 league draw against Dunfermline Athletic last month. He’s grateful it has all clicked into place for him since then.
He said: “My first day was a game. I was thrown in at the deep end straight away and that kind of helped. There are no better circumstances than a game, so the transition was smooth.
“I just feel like part of the team now.”
Boyes: Supporters will play their part
The players, following that hard-fought success at Arbroath, lapped up the celebrations with Ferguson with the jubilant supporters.
Boyes added: “The players definitely enjoyed it after the game. The fans’ celebrations when the goals have gone in gives you a bit of a boost.
“It helps you find that five per cent more. The fans play a big part in every game. We’ll just try and do as well as we can for them.”
Family’s signed Ferguson jersey plea
And Boyes explained that news of former Scotland, Rangers, Everton and Newcastle star Ferguson arriving as their new manager went down a storm with his family, who had a special first request.
He said: “My family are big Everton fans and the first thing my dad said to me was ‘get me a top’.
“There were no congratulations or anything, just ‘get me a top’ from the gaffer.”
