Caley Thistle midfielder Aaron Doran has warned Dundee United his side is intent on turning their Premiership play-off semi final tie on its head at Tannadice tomorrow.
Inverness went down 1-0 against United in Tuesday night’s first leg at Caledonian Stadium, with Paul McMullan’s late goal handing Robbie Neilson’s men the initiative.
Irishman Doran insists the setback has not deflated John Robertson’s men, who remain confident they can overturn the deficit to set up a final tie against either St Mirren or Hamilton Accies next week.
Doran, who netted a late winner on Inverness’ last trip to Tannadice in the Scottish Cup in March, said: “We are actually not too disappointed.
“You could see the Dundee United fans celebrating – they probably think they are through now.
“If you look at the two teams, we know they are not a better side than us. We will go out and give it our all.
“We are not going to go through 50 games this season just to roll over.
“We have shown what we can do down there and that’s what we are going to try and do on Friday night.
“It’s a good place to play down at Tannadice, they bring a lot of fans and it’s a good experience.
“We are confident for Friday, even after a 1-0 loss. I think that we can score a few goals down there and that’s what we are going to try and do.”
Caley Jags played the majority of the second half with 10 men on Tuesday, following midfielder Liam Polworth’s dismissal for a challenge on United defender Mark Connolly.
Doran was heartened by his side’s display given the numerical disadvantage, with the 28-year-old adding: “We had a really good first half, we were playing some nice football.
“Unfortunately the sending off held us back a little bit. We couldn’t attack as we were doing in the first half.
“The lads are happy with the second half performance. We contained them for long periods.
“I couldn’t see a goal coming for them, it’s just unfortunate it did.
“We are happy with the performance from the team, I think we deserved a little bit more.”
Doran was replaced by teenager Cameron Harper after 72 minutes of the first leg, however he feels Caley Thistle are coping well with their heavy recent schedule, adding: “It has been hectic, but we got a bit of momentum from the two Ayr games.
“Against Dundee United I thought we looked fresh. We’ll have a bit of a cool down and then go again.”