Caley Thistle manager John Robertson says the next five games will have a crucial bearing on the Highlanders’ bid for promotion from the Championship.
Despite falling a place to eighth in the table following Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Queen of the South, Inverness moved a point closer to the play-offs and now trail fourth-placed Dunfermline by six points.
Caley Jags host second-bottom Falkirk on Saturday, and Robertson feels that and the subsequent run of games against Dumbarton, Morton, Brechin City and Livingston could go a long way towards shaping his side’s campaign going into the new year.
Robertson said: “It’s baby steps and we will take them as we come, so we can get ourselves into a position in February where we can strike for the play-offs or the title. That’s where we want to be and what we want to achieve.
“It’s the same thing every week, we need to be clinical at both ends and give ourselves a chance.
“We’ve got a huge month. After Saturday we’ve now got five matches taking us up to January 2 which will put us in a position where we can be in there challenging should we get the required amount of points.
“We are in good form, we want that to continue, and if we keep going how we’re doing then I’m sure going into 2018 we will be in a very positive position in the table.”
Robertson has led a fine run of form which has seen Inverness lost just one of their last 10 games, and he has been thrilled by his side’s response following a poor start to the campaign.
Robertson added: “In an ideal world you want to get off to a fast start and then continue that going through. With the amount of changes in the summer, and the doom and gloom around the place after relegation, we didn’t get the start or the lift we wanted.
“We have gradually fought away and battled hard and it’s down to the players’ tremendous attitude on the training ground. It’s down to their intensity of training and their hard work in training that they’re now getting their rewards they deserve.
“We’ve still got a lot of ground to make up and that’s what we intend to do.
“We have picked up a few points on the teams above us this quarter but we’ve got more still to pick up. We are not going to say outrageous demands about how we’re going to win the title, or definitely be in the play-offs.
“What we have done is set targets to the end of the year. Getting above the three teams above us is the next immediate target and if we can do that we are within striking distance of the play-off spots.”