Caley Thistle manager John Robertson feels Mitch Curry is ready to offer the Highlanders a fresh attacking dimension.
Curry, who joined on a six-month loan from English Championship side Middlesbrough in the summer, has had game time curtailed by an ankle ligament injury he suffered in a Betfred Cup tie against Dundee in July.
After completing his rehabilitation at the Riverside, Curry made a goalscoring return from the start in Caley Jags’ 3-0 Tunnock’s Caramel Wafer Challenge Cup victory over Alloa Athletic earlier this month, before coming off the bench in the 2-2 Championship draw against the Wasps last weekend.
Despite the 20-year-old’s Caley Jags career being interrupted by injury, Robertson feels the Englishman can still make a telling impact at Caledonian Stadium in competition with the likes of Jordan White, Nikolay Todorov and Miles Storey for an attacking berth.
Robertson said: “Mitch was hugely frustrated. He started pre-season very sharp, scoring a few goals.
“He was vying for his opportunity from the bench. It has been a long time for him coming back from his ankle ligament injury, but we said to Middlesbrough at the time to keep him in an environment he knows and send him back up when he’s ready to play.
“He looked very sharp in training, so we had no problem putting him in against Alloa. He can play anywhere across the front three.
“A few people were surprised as they thought he might have been a wider player. He can play wide, but he’s also very quick through the middle and has the reputation for being a good finisher.
“We were told by our scouts down south and by the Middlesbrough hierarchy that if we keep him fit, he will score goals.
“It’s a fresh start for him, coming back in. He gives us a real option.
“We can start him, we can bring him off the bench, and we can play him anywhere across the front four.”
Despite the loss of a late goal against Alloa on Saturday denying Inverness the chance to go top, the draw moves them to within a point of the Championship summit at the end of the first quarter of matches.
Robertson feels his side have given them a strong platform for the remainder of the campaign, adding: “I’m not surprised at all by where we are as I believe the players are capable of even more – better quality, better intensity.
“Standards are set very high at training and we bring it into games. If we can keep our consistency let up, nothing this group do will surprise me.
“We know the quality we’ve got. We are trying to play the game the way we feel we should do, and get as many good results as we can.”