Caley Thistle goalkeeper Mark Ridgers insists his side’s belief they can reach the semi-final of the Scottish Cup this weekend has not been dented by their midweek loss at Dundee United.
Nicky Clark’s penalty gave United victory in the Championship encounter at Tannadice and with the two clubs set to face each other again on Sunday in the quarter-final of the national cup competition Ridgers is eager bounce back.
He said: “Sunday will be a different game and we’ll be set-up completely different. I’m sure they will as well. You can’t compare the two games as Sunday is the cup which is completely different prospect from a league game.
“It’s hard playing the same team twice but I can guarantee both teams will be up for it as this weekend is a game which gives the two clubs a chance to get to Hampden which, being in the Championship, is massive.
“It’s definitely one I’m looking forward to.”
Ridgers has never played at the National Stadium before and with a semi-final place at Hampden on offer to the victors of the quarter-final tie the Inverness goalkeeper believes he will not be alone in using the carrot of an appearance at the famous stadium for inspiration.
He said: “I’ve been on the bench a couple of times for semi-finals with Hearts and when we won the cup in 2012 when we beat Hibs I was there and I was there for the League Cup final but I’ve never played there so it would be a great opportunity if we could get that.
“We’re trying to get into the play-offs so we have a lot of big games coming up but for a lot of the boys it is rare to get a chance to play at Hampden. We might not get this opportunity again so we’ll be really up for it.”
Tuesday’s loss leaves Inverness in fourth place in the division where they occupy the final play-off spot, two points clear of a resurgent Dunfermline who have moved up to fifth.
Ridgers is confident his side can clinch a play-off spot, however.
He said: “It’s going to be difficult now with Dundee United beating us but Ayr are seven points ahead of us with 10 games remaining so we might be able to catch them.
“After the cup game at Ross County it was one of those results we needed to build on like we did last year when we reached the IRN-BRU Cup final. It doesn’t matter if it is third or fourth, the most important thing is making sure we are in one of the play-off places come the end of the season.”
