Caley Thistle striker Nathan Austin is desperate to take the field against old club Falkirk tomorrow night after netting his first goal for the club.
Austin bagged the opener in the 2-0 win over Queen of the South on Saturday, as Inverness reignited their hopes of making a late run to the play-offs with an assured performance.
After leaving the Bairns at the turn of the year, Austin penned an 18-month deal with the Caley Jags and has endured a frustrating start to his career in the Highlands. Two hamstring injuries had restricted him to six appearances before Saturday but he began to repay John Robertson’s faith in him by opening his account for the Highlanders.
With Falkirk on the horizon tomorrow, Austin wants to be play his part in the Caledonian Stadium clash to show the visitors what they are missing.
Austin said: “I’m desperate to play against Falkirk on Tuesday. Obviously things didn’t go well there this season and we parted ways in January. I came up here for a new beginning to help Inverness and we’ve still got an eye on the play-offs. I’m a confident person and believe in my ability but I won’t put any extra pressure on myself. You want to do well against your old club and almost show them what they could have had.
“It’s been hard for me, I can’t lie. I’m away from home and I’ve been injured. The boys and the staff have been brilliant with me, not putting any pressure on me to play. I’ve been playing 50 or 60 minutes but managed a bit longer on Saturday, which was good. I’ve been in that situation before with my hamstrings and I know I can’t rush it. It’s just about getting the sharpness back now.”
Austin said he had not let his goalless run play too heavily on his mind, with an onus on getting himself fit an injury-free taking priority. With Caley Thistle starting to establish momentum, should they make the play-offs they would arguably the form team out of the three.
Austin added: “There’s a lot of games this month. The relegation didn’t help and we didn’t pick up the results we should have at the start of the season – we could have been higher up the table. But we’ve come good and if we don’t make the play-offs we’ll have a few good results to kick on for next season. I’ve played in the play-offs a few times and know what it’s about. If we do make it it’ll be on the back of a lot of wins. We’re taking it a game at a time at the minute and trying to keep everyone fit.”
