Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Daniel MacKay and Cameron Harper reaping rewards from Elgin City loan spells, says Caley Thistle boss John Robertson

Cameron Harper and Daniel MacKay.
Cameron Harper and Daniel MacKay.

Caley Thistle manager John Robertson feels teenagers Daniel MacKay and Cameron Harper are showing the benefits of their time on loan with Elgin City last season.

Winger MacKay, 19, has started all five of Inverness’ matches so far this season, netting his first goal of the campaign in Saturday’s 3-1 Championship victory over Arbroath.

Left back Harper, who is a year younger, has also featured in every match albeit two of his outings have come from the bench.

MacKay spent last year on loan with Elgin, making 27 appearances for Gavin Price’s men, while Harper also made four appearances during a month-long stint at Borough Briggs after the turn of the year.

Robertson feels the loan moves have had the desired effect in preparing the pair for first team football.

Robertson said: “We can see already with the way Daniel protects the ball, the way his movement has improved, that he has been out there and to put it quite crudely, he’s been clattered by some challenges in League Two.

“That was the whole point of him going out there, to learn the game.

 

“Cameron went out for five matches and it showed him right away he needed to pick up his sharpness and intelligence of the runs of the forwards. He looks perfectly at home now.

“If you do it properly and nurture the players right, and get their attitude correct to going out on loan correct and battling for their place, that’s a big thing for us.

“We are not a club that insists our players have to play. We want them to earn the respect of the dressing room they go into.

“In Daniel and Cameron’s case they had to earn the respect of their team-mates at Elgin City, battle their way into the team in the first place, and then progress from there. Both of them did that very well.”

Midfielder Roddy MacGregor has also been thrust into the starting line-up after breaking into Inverness’ side last season.

Although MacGregor has not been farmed out on loan, Robertson is hopeful the 18-year-old can show he does not need to follow the same path as MacKay and Harper.

 

He added: “It may be at some stage if we get everybody back that the likes of Roddy MacGregor could get the same exposure to that.

“Hopefully not, because if he just adds goals and assists to his game, he can become a very important player for us.

“If he can do that there will be no stopping him because he has been fantastic in terms of energy, getting forward and causing problems.”

Robertson feels the young players in his squad must aim to make themselves at home among their more senior team-mates, with the Caley Jags boss adding: “It’s an opportunity that may have been delayed slightly had all our experienced lads been fit.

“People forget that Daniel Mackay has been around about the first team for three seasons.

“He was one of our youngest ever goalscorers when he scored in the Challenge Cup against Peterhead, and he’s now got over 30 appearances for the first team.

Roddy MacGregor.

“Roddy MacGregor has over 30 appearances for the first team and Cameron Harper has just gone over a dozen appearances.

“Ryan Fyffe stepped up on loan last year at Fort William, and he has shown that he learned from going out and playing senior football. Lewis Hyde came on at Tynecastle and did very well as well, so these young lads are not scared.

“They will go in and do a job for us. It would be nice to have some more options, but those senior options won’t necessarily be the ones we pick if the current crop of youngsters continue with the form that they are in.

“If they can add goals and good performances to what they have already shown, they will stay in the team. That’s how football works.”