Caley Thistle manager Richie Foran has called on Inverness to bring back the fear factor to clubs visiting Caledonian Stadium this season.
Irishman Foran took over from John Hughes at the end of last season and got his managerial career off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory against Cowdenbeath in the opening match of the Betfred Cup group stage on Saturday.
Former Caley Jags captain Foran will be in the home dugout for the first time tomorrow when the Highlanders host Dundee United, who were relegated to the Championship last season.
Caley Thistle won only eight of their 23 home matches in all competitions last season, losing 10, and Foran is desperate to make Caledonian Stadium a fortress.
Foran said: “We want to make teams hate coming here like it was in the past, with teams knowing they are here for the battle of their lives. We have to turn that around.
“We dropped too many points last season here, so we are looking to change that. We want teams to know they will be in for one of the toughest afternoons they will get this season, if not the toughest.
“Our workrate has to be immense. We have to out-work teams as well as outplay them. We will be training on the pitch on Friday as well and the new boys will get to have a look at the park and the surroundings.
“We want to start with a win in our first home game of the season.”
Despite getting off to a winning start against the Blue Brazil on Saturday, Foran is expecting a rise in performance for the visit of United.
He added: “It’s a step up in opposition again from Cowdenbeath. It’s going to be a real test. They have signed well and they had a really good result on Tuesday by beating Cowdenbeath 6-1.
“Conditions were very poor last week, so we can’t take a lot out of that of performance. This week the standards on the training ground have gone up a lot. The boys are looking far sharper and we will be ready for Saturday.”
