Caley Thistle attacker George Oakley hopes getting off the mark in the Championship helps his case to earn a starting place in John Robertson’s side.
Englishman Oakley netted after coming off the bench in Tuesday’s 4-0 home win against Brechin City, with his two previous goals for Caley Jags coming during the Betfred Cup group stage in July.
The summer signing from AFC Wimbledon has made only five league starts, the latest coming in September, however Oakley feels the long spell as backup to Connor Bell and John Baird has forced him to raise his own standards in an attempt to push into the side.
Oakley said: “When I first started playing here we were going through a hard time.
“Everyone was gelling together and finding out how each other played, but now it’s clicking together.
“Because the side has been playing well and I’ve not been involved I’ve now got to prove myself in a bigger way.
“I need to set myself targets and push the people in front of me. It’s good to be back scoring again, like the way I started.
“It’s good for my confidence and I’m now playing a bit more, so hopefully that will help me to get more.
“I want to show the manager what I can do over a full game so hopefully by scoring goals I will get my chance.
“When there’s quality sitting on the bench and the team is doing well it’s hard but I want to get in there and prove myself.”
Inverness make the long trip to Queen of the South today boosted by Tuesday’s victory over City, which was a quick return to winning ways following last Saturday’s 2-0 home defeat against St Mirren.
Caley Jags are now seven points adrift of the promotion play-offs but Oakley is refusing to look too far ahead, with the 22-year-old adding: “We don’t want to look up that table every week, we just want to look at the game.
“We have to take every week as it comes and if we train well and play well, hopefully we win that game.
“If we start thinking about where we will be if we win here or there it puts added pressure on us.
“We will see where we are at the end of January.
“What I’ve noticed in this league is that everyone beats everyone, there is no certain winner and nobody is running away with it.
“As long as we keep playing away and taking each game as it comes I can promise everyone we will be flying up that table before long.”