Former Caley Thistle goalkeeper Michael Fraser knows all about the heartache awaiting the club if Inverness are relegated from the Premiership, but has warned the players must keep the faith a great escape can be achieved.
Fraser suffered the drop in his final game for Inverness in 2009, when the Highlanders were relegated on goal difference following a final-day 1-0 home defeat to Falkirk.
Caley Jags will be down on Saturday if they lose to Hamilton Accies and Dundee win at Kilmarnock and Motherwell defeat Ross County.
Fraser knows jobs are on the line in the remaining four games of the campaign.
Fraser, pictured, who now plays shinty for Glen Urquhart, said: “The difference between staying up and going down can be people’s jobs, not just players and managers, but office staff and youth-team coaches and players.
“We made a pretty decent comeback the season we went down, Terry Butcher turned it around really well for us after arriving in January, but it just wasn’t to be.
“If we had avoided defeat on the final day against Falkirk we would have stayed up.
“It was one of those games. Ross Tokely got sent off pretty harshly in the first half, we had loads of chances to win it, but they nicked one at the end. That was my last game for Inverness, so it wasn’t nice at all. I had already decided to go to Motherwell before Terry even came in.”
Although Fraser was not part of Butcher’s team that won promotion at the first time of asking, the Drumnadrochit-born player went on to win the league with Ross County in 2012.
Fraser has warned Caley Jags will not find it easy if they go down and added: “It’s a tough league. The year we won it with County we only lost one game all season, but even then it was tough.
“It’s tight, there are only 10 teams in it so any team that loses a few games is not too far off the bottom.”
Fraser knows victory at home to Accies on Saturday is essential if Inverness are to survive, with Foran’s men seven points adrift of second-bottom Motherwell. The 33-year-old added: “It’s not ideal, they really need to win the next game.
“They need one win and all of a sudden it’s down to four points, and other teams are pretty nervous as well. There’s not going to be a lot of good football being played and they will have to rely on other teams slipping but they can’t give up, they have to keep going.”