Caley Thistle manager John Hughes has warned the rest of the teams in the Premiership to write off his side at their peril.
Inverness have failed to score in five matches this month – including Sunday’s League Cup final shootout defeat by Aberdeen – and suffered successive 5-0 defeats by Celtic and Dundee United.
Caley Jags have 10 games remaining to improve upon last season’s fourth-place finish – when they missed out on European qualification only on the last day of the season.
Hughes’s men are fifth in the table, nine points adrift of Aberdeen and Motherwell, but the Caley Thistle manager believes his team possesses the mental strength to finish the season with a flourish.
He said: “Can we get that European spot?
“It is not going to be easy but I wouldn’t bet against these guys. Team spirit is what these guys are all about. We are a little bit unconventional up in Inverness.
“I listen to the boys and you have to have that understanding as a coach and as a manager of their needs. You can’t keep working them all the time.
“It is quite easy as it is one of the best dressing-rooms I have worked with as there are no egos.
“Every one of them is an honest boy. I could give each one of them four days off and I guarantee they would all be in the gym. It is keeping them out of the gym that is the tough thing to do. That is the type of character and spirit we have in the dressing-room.
“These boys run that dressing-room – I am only there to help and guide them.”
Caley Thistle’s poor form continued with a 2-0 defeat at Motherwell on Wednesday but Hughes identified plenty of positives to take from the match ahead of the visit of Partick Thistle tomorrow.
He said: “The reaction from the players since the cup final has been different class.
“We played well against Motherwell and on another night we could have won that match. But take nothing away from Motherwell as they were ruthless when it came to converting their chances. We will roll our sleeves up and come back from this. We still have 10 games to go.”
Aaron Doran is unlikely to feature against the Maryhill Jags tomorrow.
The Irish midfielder was substituted at half-time with a hamstring problem in Wednesday’s defeat at Fir Park.