Alex Samuel believes Caley Thistle have the battling qualities required to secure Championship survival.
Inverness are three points adrift in the relegation play-off spot, with today’s trip to Partick Thistle the first of six games remaining.
Welsh forward Samuel was part of a Ross County side which had to secure Premiership safety the hard way last season, after cancelling out a three-goal deficit in their play-off against Partick before triumphing on penalties.
Samuel, who is on loan with Inverness from the Staggies, is eager to avoid going to the wire again, but says his side must be prepared to scrap their way out of trouble.
He said: “We know how important it is to stay in the division.
“It’s one of those where we’ve got to put our heart and soul into every game.
“Last year, when we survived at County, we had to fight. It’s exactly the same here.
“That’s the bog standard – if you don’t have that fight you will really be struggling.
“The encouraging thing is I see that in this team. I really see that fight, and we’ve just got to apply that to these six games coming up, and I think we will be fine.
“The positive thing is it’s in our hands. If we get a couple of wins, we are out of it.
“We are not miles away, we are in touching distance. In these six games, we’ve just got to fight and put our bodies on the line to bring this team to safety, which I know we all will.”
Striker aiming to to thrive on pressure
Samuel played a key role in County’s great escape, shortly after returning from a year-long cruciate ligament absence.
The 28-year-old is hoping to once again thrive on the intensity of Caley Jags’ situation.
Samuel, who has netted four goals in nine starting outings since making the temporary switch in January, added: “It’s a different type of pressure.
“It’s a pressure that I’m used to. Ideally it’s one of them where, when you’re in it, you need to try and enjoy it.
“That’s how you are going to do the best you can in football. If you are scared, and looking around thinking ‘what if this happens?’ then you are not going to play to the best of your ability.
“You’ve got to take each game as it comes, and try to enjoy the pressure. Then the results will come from that.”
Inverness looking to turn draws into wins
Inverness have drawn five of their last seven matches, with one win and one defeat during that sequence.
After claiming a 1-1 draw with leaders Dundee United at Tannadice last weekend, Samuel is determined to take the next step in the coming weeks.
He added: “We want to turn these draws into wins. That’s where we are at the moment.
“We have shown enough of what we can do. We have the quality in the team.
“When we played Partick a few weeks ago we were 2-0 up, and to lose that lead was frustrating. On Saturday we want to take the initiative and go for the win.
“We are very confident. I have come into this team, and I know personally just with the way the team is running, the confidence and the mood, that we are in a good place.
“We are definitely confident we can get out of this and enjoy our summer.”
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