Defender Carl Tremarco reckons Caley Thistle may need to show the ugly side to their game in order to return to winning ways.
Inverness have slumped to the bottom of the Scottish Premiership table after a run of four successive defeats, with the Highlanders tumbling to a dire 3-0 defeat by St Johnstone on Saturday to hit rock bottom of the table.
With five games to play before the winter break in January, Tremarco is prepared to sacrifice some of his side’s attacking flair if it results in points, as Richie Foran’s men aim to avert their concerning recent downturn in form.
Englishman Tremarco said: “We need to be better at sniffing out danger. If there’s a good foul, take a yellow card for the team. We’ve conceded a couple of set-plays lately, so we’ll work on that.
“The manager keeps drumming into us that the results will come. It’s just about keeping the back door shut. We need to win the tussles before we go and play football.
“We need to go back to the Inverness people hate playing. If we need to go back to kicking people, within the rules of the game, then we need to be right in people’s faces. I’m not talking about getting sent off, which is ridiculous. You need to let them know you’re there for 90 minutes.
“We’re not always going to score three or four in a game. The teams around us are probably in the same boat.
“We need to start winning ugly. I’ll take playing poorly and winning 1-0 all day long. It’s all about three points.
“I want to win games – performances will always be there because we’ve got a good squad. It’s just collectively as a unit working hard to concede goals. There are none where we look back and say there’s nothing we can do about that.”
Despite Caley Jags’ current position, they remain just three points adrift of sixth-placed Kilmarnock and Tremarco knows a run of good results will make a difference.
The 31-year-old, who last week signed a new contract to keep him at Caledonian Stadium until 2018 with the option of a further year, added: “The league is very competitive this year. If any team puts a decent run together the gap starts to show.”