Winger Luis Longstaff is confident Caley Thistle will continue to kick clear of danger at the foot of the Championship.
Duncan Ferguson is only two weeks into the job, but a victory over Arbroath allied with the 0-0 draw with third-placed Partick Thistle on Saturday has lifted the Highland side up to ninth in the table – ahead of Morton on goal difference, and four points behind Ayr United.
Two weeks on Saturday, Inverness head to Cappielow to take on Dougie Imrie’s Morton in a crunch match to close out the first round of fixtures.
Longstaff, signed in the summer by previous boss Billy Dodds, has been encouraged by the improvement since Ferguson arrived.
He said: “We definitely need to be patient.
“We picked up a win last week and a point this weekend. We’re heading in the right direction, but the new manager has only been here for two weeks.
“The reaction we’ve got in that time is pretty positive.
“Obviously, we do pay attention to where we are in the league, but there’s no point dwelling on it.
“It is going to take time to pick up the points, but the performances show it is going in the right direction.”
No ICT fear for trip to Cappielow
Inverness were one victory away from reaching the promotion play-offs last season after a strong second half to the campaign which also saw them reach the Scottish Cup final.
Longstaff, who was on loan at Cove Rangers in the Championship last term, insists they have no reason to fear the Morton clash at Cappielow as they seek to open a points gap over their opponents next Saturday.
He said: “We don’t fear anybody in the league. On our day, we’re up there with the best teams in the league, definitely. That showed last season as well.
“Morton is just another game against a team in our division. Yes, they’re below us on goal difference, but we’ll treat it like we’re playing someone at the top of the league.
“We’ll just play to the best of our ability and hopefully take three points.”
High energy training – every day
Former Liverpool youth Longstaff, 22, who was born in Darlington is, like many of his team-mates, reacting well to ex-Everton and Newcastle striker Ferguson being their new manager.
He said: “Since he has come in, it has just been brilliant, to be honest.
“The energy in training, every single day, has been huge. Normally when a new manager comes in you get that bounce for the first session, but it has been like that every single day.
“That’s down to us wanting to do that, but also him not letting us drop our standards.
“That shows in the performances, even though, against Partick, the final bit of quality wasn’t quite there.
“The effort, and everything else, was still there.”
Longstaff’s confidence is growing
Longstaff admits the early part of his Caley Jags career wasn’t easy – not helped by the team struggling for wins.
Now though, he is happy to be making a real impact, with Ferguson last week singling out Longstaff for his performance against Arbroath where he opened his ICT scoring account.
Longstaff added; “Obviously, at the start, I struggled a little bit. My performances weren’t really there.
“But I feel like I’ve started to grow in confidence over the last couple of weeks.
“I think the team is playing better as well, which makes you feel better about it as well.
“My confidence has grown and the whole team’s confidence has grown, and that’s bringing the best out of everyone.”
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