Caley Thistle winger Tom Walsh insists tonight’s Scottish Cup fifth round replay against Ross County stands in the way of his first major run in the competition.
Inverness host the Staggies in the fifth meeting between the sides this season, after the pair shared a 2-2 draw at Victoria Park in the original tie last Monday.
Walsh joined Inverness from Dumbarton last summer, having also had previous stints with Rangers, Stenhousemuir and St Mirren, but success in the Scottish Cup has eluded him to date.
With the opportunity to set up a last eight tie away to fellow Championship side Dundee United, Walsh is not lacking in motivation for tonight’s match.
He said: “All three teams – ourselves, County and Dundee United – will be looking at it as a great opportunity to get to the semi final.
“We are only in the last 16 and we’ve still got a massive game. What will be will be after that, but the County game is huge for us and we know it means a lot to the fans. It’s a big night ahead.
“I’ve not reached the latter stages of the Scottish Cup, I think the last-16 is maybe the furthest I have got.
“I got to the IRN-BRU Cup final last season, but that’s not the same as the Scottish Cup where you’ve got the Premiership teams.
“It’s a big competition that you want to do well in and have a good run. It’s a huge game for the club.”
Inverness have failed to get the better of County on all four occasions they have faced them
“This is a derby which always gives it a wee edge. There has been a good atmosphere this season at the derbies, so hopefully it’s the same again.
“We know we have performed reasonably well against them this season. Hopefully it can be a similar performance from ourselves, but most importantly we need to win the game which we have not done this season.
“We need to put that right. You would rather win ugly than play well and not win, especially in the cup where you want to get to the next round.
“We need to just find a way to win the game. Obviously it would be nice to play well, create loads of chances and score as many goals as we can.
“We know it’s going to be difficult because they are a good team. In a cup-tie, we just need to get through it.”
Walsh is eager to bounce back from a poor display in Saturday’s 1-0 Championship loss to Dunfermline, adding: “I would rather play as many games as possible rather than train. That’s when it means something – whether it’s three points or the next round of the cup.
“We are only at February so nobody can really be saying they are feeling the fatigue.
“It was just a bad day at the office on Saturday. The good thing is we’ve got a game where we can put it right, so we’ve got to do that and win the cup tie.”