Caley Thistle went into the international break with renewed optimism following an impressive 3-1 victory against Motherwell.
That could all be quickly dashed though, if they suffer a disappointing result against Partick Thistle on Saturday.
Inverness’ form has been stop-start all season, and it has been no co-incidence their best spell thus far – a six game unbeaten run between September and October – came when their injury problems were at their least severe.
It will come as great encouragement, then, to Caley Jags supporters that John Hughes expects to welcome back several players for this weekend’s trip to Firhill.
Captain Gary Warren and midfielder Ross Draper are both back in contention following injury, having come through Inverness’ Development League match against St Johnstone on Tuesday unscathed. The pair are hugely influential to the Caley Thistle cause, and their return will come as a massive boost.
Wide midfielder Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo also played in that game, having returned from a short spell in his native Belgium nursing an achilles injury, and he will be desperate to show supporters what he can do after an indifferent start to his career in Scotland.
On-loan Charlton Athletic attacker Tobi Sho-Silva is another player nearing a return, and although he has only played 17 minutes for the club, in the latter stages of the 2-0 win against Hearts earlier in the season, he showed enough to suggest he is an exciting prospect.
There is one setback which threatens to negate all that positivity however; the absence of Ryan Christie.
The young midfielder landed awkwardly on his knee during the victory against Motherwell, and last week the 20-year-old discovered he faces over a month on the sidelines.
After Celtic signed Christie for £500,000 in the summer, they immediately loaned him straight back to his hometown club for the season. At the time of the deal though, it was indicated the Hoops would be likely to trigger the option of recalling the attacking midfielder in January, with the injury only increasing the likelihood of that eventuality.
Christie has now returned to his parent club for treatment on the injury, and if Celtic, as expected, call him back after the turn of the year, it casts doubt over whether he will appear in a Caley Jags jersey again.
Although he may not go straight into Celtic’s starting 11, manager Ronny Deila is sure to want to get Christie embedded into the Parkhead environment as soon as possible, particularly given the huge difference in scale he is about to encounter.
Christie is on borrowed time in the Highlands, and Hughes has had several months to prepare for life without the influential midfielder.
It was clear from an early stage that Christie was destined for bigger things, but he and the Caley Jags supporters will both there is a send-off still to come, in order to suitably celebrate his meteoric rise.