Caley Thistle have secured five academy players on professional contracts ahead of the new Championship season.
Ethan Cairns, Robbie Thompson, Lewis Nicolson, Alisdair Riddle and Harry Hennem have all pledged their immediate futures to the Highlanders.
All five are from the Highlands. Cairns, 16, is from Fort William while 17-year-old Hennem is from Tain with Thompson, Nicolson and Riddle (all 17) hailing from Inverness.
Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds told the club website: “It is a tribute to the great work of the Caley Jags academy coaching staff and the dedication of the players and their families that the boys are making this step up the professional football ladder.
✍️ Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC are delighted to announce that Academy Graduates Ethan Cairns, Robbie Thompson, Lewis Nicolson, Alisdair Riddle and Harry Hennem have signed their first professional contracts with the club.
Full Story👉 https://t.co/4wu7vD8d76 pic.twitter.com/1DgM6PLEOV
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) June 10, 2021
“We are looking forward to working with them and we will be making sure that they have the very best opportunities they could possibly have to improve as both as players and young men.”
The five new professionals will be joining a squad containing three current Scotland Under-21 internationals in Robbie Deas, Cameron Harper and Roddy Macgregor.
Fellow Caley Jags academy product Daniel MacKay was also in the Under-21 squad and was recently voted into the Championship team of the season.
MacKay broke into the first team aged 16 and made over 50 appearances before Hibernian swooped for his signature earlier this summer.