Lewis Jamieson hopes two goals in two starts can shoot him into contention for Caley Thistle’s Championship showdown with Morton this weekend.
The 19-year-old forward, who is on loan from St Mirren, tucked away the final goal in ICT’s 4-2 comeback win over Elgin City in the SPFL Trust Trophy at the weekend.
His cool finish, which followed Billy Mckay’s treble, earned the Inverness team a quarter-final shot at home to fellow holders Raith Rovers next month. They trailed 2-0 in the first half, but dug deep to turn the tie around.
It was only the second start for Jamieson since his summer switch from Saints, but he scored in that tie as well as the side defeated Buckie Thistle 4-0 in the previous round.
Goals in cup fire up Jamieson
Now he hopes he’s earned the right to force his way into the team as the Championship leaders seek to stay top by seeing off the Ton on Saturday.
He said: “I have been waiting for my opportunity and I’d like to think that I put a good performance in on Saturday and in the last round against Buckie Thistle.
“I came on a few weeks ago as well in the Championship, so I am looking forward to getting more minutes and trying to take my opportunity when it comes to score goals.”
Starlet grateful for daily advice
Jamieson explained that words of advice from Mckay and head coach Billy Dodds are keeping him on the right track as he seeks to score more minutes on the pitch.
He added: “I am learning from Billy (Mckay) every day in training. He’s brilliant with me, just giving me wee pointers, just like the gaffer does, having been an attacking player too.
“That was partly the reason I came up here, to help take me that step further in my career. It has been really good so far.”
Patience key as Caley Jags trailed
Jamieson praised the team for refusing to panic when Elgin led 2-0 and felt they deserved to reach the last eight.
He said: “We went there to win, nothing less than that. The gaffer told us Elgin would make it difficult and it was difficult pitch and tricky conditions.
“We went 2-0 down, which was not great and it was an uphill battle, but with the character of the boys, it’s a great place to be with a great changing room.
“We knew when we came into this tie, we would need to be patient because Elgin would sit it. They got those two cheap goals from our point of view and that made it difficult, but we stayed at it, kept to our tasks and thankfully came out the winners.”
Handling heat as league leaders
The confident young forward is enjoying being within a winning squad at the top of the second tier and he sees no reason why the pace-setters should fear anyone in the division as they aim to hit back from their only league loss against Hamilton.
He said: “We’ve had a great start to the season, outwith the result at Hamilton. Even then, I felt the performance was at a high standard. We were unlucky not to have come away with a result.
“There is a pressure on us because we’re top. Teams are coming all out to beat us, but we need to handle that.
“When we’re on our game, I can see us beating any side.”