Caley Thistle winger Tom Walsh feels his side must address a lack of ruthlessness which he feels has cost the Highlanders in recent weeks.
Inverness have relinquished the lead in their last two matches, with last month’s 1-1 Scottish Cup draw against Edinburgh City followed by Saturday’s 3-2 home loss against Falkirk, in a result which ended a club record 25-match unbeaten league run.
Caley Jags host Edinburgh in tonight’s third round replay, and Walsh feels his side must be more clinical in seeing off their League 2 opponents.
Walsh said: “We need to learn the lessons from Saturday. We got the first goal, but we need to try and get two or three and try to kill the game when we are on top of it.
“That’s the problem just now. We are going ahead but we are not going 2-0 up to give us a wee bit of comfort. We need to try and finish teams early when we are on top.
“It’s always good to be unbeaten. You want to keep that going as long as you can and try to build on the wins.
“But it is done now, we can’t do anything about that. It was a sickener to lose with the last kick but we can’t think about that now.
“It’s done and we need to look to try and get the wins now. We want to turn those draws into wins.”
Tonight’s opponents are in confident mood, having moved top of League 2 with victories in all but two of their 13 matches so far.
Walsh insists the Citizens’ threat came as no surprise to his side, but the 22-year-old feels Caley Jags must produce an improved display at Caledonian Stadium.
He added: “They gave us a right good game down at a difficult place. They were organised, and they were a threat as well.
“We have got to be aware of them and treat them with the same respect as we do the Championship teams.
“We knew they had taken Alloa to penalties and beat them. Down at their place, it’s an awkward place to go.
“There were no excuses from us though. We knew on the day it wasn’t good enough, and we’ve got to put that right.”
A fourth round tie at home to Lowland League side East Kilbride awaits the winner of tonight’s tie, with Walsh adding: “Every team wants to get a good cup run. The club has done well in this cup as well, so we want to try and keep that going and go as far as we can starting with this game.
“Every game is an opportunity to build momentum. If we can get a good result we can look forward to Friday against Ayr United which will be a great occasion – a big game on television.
“The replay is a massive game for us though, so we are not looking past that just now.”