David Carson returns to happy hunting ground East End Park on Saturday determined to keep Caley Thistle’s sizzling winning run going at the top of the Championship.
The midfielder-turned-right-back scored his only senior goal at Dunfermline in a 1-0 league win last season and he’s hopeful that focusing on their strength against the current bottom side can be the key to success.
The Pars’ 3-1 defeat at managerless Ayr leaves them with just one point at the opposite end of the table from the Highlanders, but Carson insists it’s all about what the red-hot Caley Jags can deliver after their stirring 3-1 home success over Partick Thistle.
He said: “We will, of course, have pointers on the opposition, but we need to mainly concentrate on our own strengths. We’re looking to get things right, week in and week out and if we do that then I don’t think many teams will be able to match us.
“We have some great characters, some great footballers here and very good mix of youth and experience, so long may that continue.”
Carson’s only Inverness goal against the Fifers in May sealed a welcome three points, but he insists that winning would mean just as much as scoring another goal there.
He added: “Scoring doesn’t happen very often and it could be the ground for me. But in all honesty if we can go there and take the three points that will be more than enough for me.”
To win every game is ‘brilliant’ start
It’s far too early in the season for anyone at Inverness to be talking of winning the league or even gaining promotion via the play-offs.
However, the 25-year-old Englishman admits racking up a maximum 15 points so far is a massive early boost at a club where slow starts have been the norm.
He said: “In the past two season as I’ve been here, we haven’t started seasons well. You are always chasing points or games in hand to try and catch up. To get off the mark and win every game is brilliant.
“The manager and the boys know that we can only look as far as the next game. We got the job done against Partick and only now can we look at the Dunfermline match.”
Early Partick goal ‘spooked’ ICT
Carson felt partly to blame on Saturday as Partick got an opening to take the lead before a three-goal second half blitz blew the visitors away, with his assist lining up Aaron Doran for the second.
He explained that a pep talk from head coach Billy Dodds got them right back on track.
He added: “In the first half, we were spooked a little bit by conceding a goal, which we hadn’t done. I hold my hands up for their goal as I was going places I probably shouldn’t have.
“However, at half-time the gaffer was asking us to go out there and give a real performance and try and get level. If we were to not win, at least we would have given it a real go.
“We knew we had more than enough to go out there and give it a go and win. The goal early in the second half really helped us to kick on.”
‘Our fans were magnificent’
As soon as Kirk Broadfoot crashed home the 50th minute leveller, the home supporters were hooked and cranked up the volume.
Carson said the players knew that would be the reaction if they flew out of the traps in the second half and drew level.
He said: “Having the fans back is a massive bonus in a home game. If you go a goal down and you’re struggling a little bit, we knew if we equalised they’d get behind us.
“Our fans were magnificent and I hope they seen our reaction on Saturday from the boys as we gave them something to cheer about.
“Once we went ahead, we had to stay compact, get our heads down and battle right to the end.
“We came a long way from being behind to taking the lead. You have to work even harder to stay in front. We believed we could go on and get the three points.”