Davie Carson hopes supporters will turn out in force as a run of home games can help Highland press for a top-five finish in National League 1.
The head coach is keen for his men to bounce back from a disappointing 38-7 loss at leaders Gala last weekend as they go toe-to-toe with Stirling Wolves at Canal Park this Saturday.
Three of Highland’s four remaining matches are in Inverness and they face a side, who gave them a run for their money in a 36-31 away victory in November.
After trying to tame the Wolves, they have a rescheduled dates with Cartha Queens Park then Boroughmuir over the next two weekends before capping off a decent season away to title-chasing Biggar on April 23.
Noise from balcony can be crucial
With the weather, hopefully, turning for the better, Carson is keen to get the supporters hooked by seeing some winning rugby as they aim to move from seventh spot.
He said: “It would be great of the sun was shining and we can get the balcony packed and get some noise from the crowd, who can help spur the players on to get some victories.
“It’s great to have this run. We’ve had a lot of games away since Christmas, but with three at home, that’s 15 points – or three bonus-point wins – available, and that would maybe take us into fifth, which will be great.
“I’ve said the the boys to expect a tough match against Stirling. They are still down in the bottom half of the league, so they need the points.
“The week after that we play Cartha, who are second-bottom, and they also need the points. These sides will fight just as hard as Gala did on Saturday, so nothing will be easy.
“We had a really entertaining win against Stirling down there, with both teams running the ball very well. We need to just get our own running game together.”
We’re underway at Netherdale pic.twitter.com/QmRSLikiTg
— Highland Rugby Club 🦅 (@HighlandRFC) March 26, 2022
Time for calm heads in the red zone
Stand-off Scott Fraser was sin-binned after 15 minutes as Highland fell to defeat against table-toppers Gala at Netherdale on Saturday.
Despite that, Carson feels there were lessons to be learned from it, which they’ve been focused on a training in the past few days.
He added: “Gala were clinical as soon as Scott went in the bin.
“It was disappointing because we had a great spell for about half an hour in the second half and got one try, but what we’ve been working on this week, is trying to stay calm, in the 22, the red zone, to finish things off.
“It was the same against Biggar a couple of weeks ago and away to Melrose. We just need to get our mojo back and start scoring more tries.”
Hugo Crush remains sidelined with a shoulder injury, but some of the title-winning seconds are poised to be pitched in for valuable senior level experience.
