John Robertson has warned Caley Thistle will not allow players nearing the end of their contracts to prised on the cheap during the January transfer window.
Inverness have a number of players out of contract in the summer who are free to speak to other clubs, including defender Coll Donaldson who is believed to have struck an agreement with Highland rivals Ross County.
Inverness have received a number of other inquiries for players, with Dundee asking for permission to speak to Shaun Rooney and Jamie McCart attracting interest from Partick Thistle.
While Robertson accepts the Highlanders are vulnerable to losing players reaching the latter stages of their contracts, he has warned potential suitors his players will not be sold for a cut-price sum before the end of this month.
Robertson said: “Dundee have officially asked to speak to Shaun Rooney, and three other clubs have asked to speak to three other players.
“Due to the fact they are out of contract, we have granted permission as sought.
“It’s compliment to the players that they have done so well that other clubs from other leagues want to come and get them.
“We are in a position, whilst we remain in the Championship and other clubs in the league have bigger budgets than us, we are at a stage where teams can pick off our better players.
“One thing that has been made abundantly clear in my chat with our chief executive Scot Gardiner is they will not be getting them for peanuts.
“If they think they are going to get them cheap in the transfer window, they have no chance.
“We will not be pressurised. It’s their prerogative if they want to sign them on pre-contracts, but it’s also our prerogative to get the market rate for those players.
“If we don’t get it, they will be helping us trying to get to the Premiership.”
Robertson revealed Inverness are making progress in their efforts to add to their squad during the transfer window, with the Highlanders believed to be keen on Falkirk defender Lewis Toshney, whose contract is due to expire this month.
Robertson added: “We are close to two potential signings, which will not affect any players potentially leaving.
“We have got two positions in particular we targeted ourselves – a defensive position and attacking position – where we felt we needed to bring somebody in.
“We are pretty close to the defensive aspect, and not far away from the forward aspect we are looking at short-term to bolster our squad until the end of the season, but it doesn’t make any difference to the players who are subject to inquiries.”