Caley Thistle forward Jordan White says the Highlanders’ experience of last season’s play-offs gives them all the more motivation to finish second in the Championship.
Inverness finished third last term, meaning they had to face fourth-placed Ayr United in their two-legged quarter-final. Although Caley Jags triumphed 4-2 on aggregate against the Honest Men, John Robertson’s men went on to lose 4-0 to Dundee United in the semi final stage.
Should Caley Jags maintain their current second position they will avoid this season’s quarter-final stage, which White feels would give his side a better chance of ultimately securing a place in next year’s Premiership.
White said: “There is plenty to look forward to.
“We know, from our experiences last season, you want to finish at least second and give yourself the best opportunity. Finishing third or fourth makes it much tougher to try and get promoted.
“We are confident of achieving that. With games coming thick and fast, if you can go on a good run then it can carry on.
“It’s going to be a right good run-in for the play-off places. We have got a couple of games in hand, so we want to get as far away from third and fourth as possible.
“We also have the cup final this month and it’s great to be involved in that.
“Every team has something to play for and that’s what’s so good about the Championship. No side is in a position where they cannot move up or down in the table. Everybody is fighting for something. We’re just concentrating ourselves and aiming to finish as high as we can.”
White is well versed on what to expect in tonight’s Championship visit of Morton, having previously played under Cappielow boss David Hopkin during their time at Livingston.
White added: “I know how David sets up his teams. He was good, very straight to the point. You knew what you were going to get from him and you knew what he wanted from you. He gets the best from his players.
“At the start of the season, they were still finding their feet and the manager was still quite new in the job and he was getting his players settled in. When we played them in October they were more organised and Cappielow is never an easy place to go. That was always going to be tough. They are in good form right now and their last two results have been especially good.
“They will be hard to beat but we are at home and we want to be the dominant team.”
Morton are undefeated in the league since the turn of the year, however White aims to bounce back from Friday’s 5-2 Scottish Cup quarter-final defeat to Hibernian.
The 28-year-old added: “We’ve had to get over Friday’s defeat quickly. We’ve got a lot of games coming up and any setbacks we have we have to get over it and look to the next one.
“Morton haven’t been beaten since the turn of the year in the league, so we expect a tough game.”