James Vincent is ready to prove himself all over again after making his first appearance in more than three months for Caley Thistle.
The former Kidderminster Harriers midfielder came off the bench to help Inverness beat Aberdeen 1-0 on Saturday in what was his first game since suffering a micro fracture on his tibia.
Much has changed since his last appearance, with manager Terry Butcher departing the Highlands for Hibernian and his place in the Inverness dugout being taken by John Hughes. Vincent, who was an ever-present until suffering the injury, knows he has to win over his new manager.
He said: “It’s a clean slate for all the lads whenever a new manager comes in.
“Because we were doing so well, the team almost picked itself. But you can see now different members of the squad are coming in to the starting line-up and are taking their chance, so fair play to them.
“The manager has always said he’s heard good things about me and watched videos of me play.
“He’s always had confidence in me, talking to me during training sessions, telling me what he wants, and keeping me involved.
“I’m looking forward to getting the chance to play under him.”
Vincent’s former manager Butcher is keen on bringing the player to Easter Road but a new offer is also on the table from Caley Jags.
On his contract offer, he said: “I’m looking at it and I’m speaking to the manager about it.
“He’s been really good with me but the main focus is just to get back on the pitch, get playing and once that settles down then sort out my contract situation. I’ve had a great start at Inverness. Unfortunately, injuries happen but I need to get over that now and look to the future.”
The immediate task for Vincent is making the starting 11 but Inverness are looking at reclaiming second place after relinquishing their grip during the festive period.
Vincent said: “Everyone in the dressing-room feels like we can still push for second place.
“We were quite a few points behind both Aberdeen and Motherwell but we’ve managed to claw a bit of the deficit back.”