Caley Thistle manager John Hughes has no fears about handing new signing Ibra Sekajja a debut in tomorrow’s Premiership encounter against St Mirren.
Former Crystal Palace attacker Sekajja joined Inverness last week having been without a club since leaving the Eagles in the summer.
However Hughes has no concerns over the 21 year-old’s match sharpness, and has challenged the Ugandan to prove himself worthy of a longer deal at the club, after initially joining until January.
Hughes said: “He is certainly ready. He’ll come in and have a part to play.
“He is not a big, physical type of striker, but he’ll never play in front of the defender, always on his shoulder.
“If he gets the right service and slotted into good areas of the park, defenders will not catch him. He only needs that half yard and he’s off and running.
“What we’ve seen in training is he’ll take a chance that comes his way. He’s a brave boy in as much as if he misses one chance he’ll go back in for it again next time.
“He wants to play up there at the sharp end and, from observing his movement, he’s been well coached.
“So he will come into contention, that’s for sure.
“The ball is now in his court as regards whether this will be a long-term stay for him at Inverness.
“It is up to him to now force his way into starting contention – and stay there.
“If that’s the case, we’ll sit down at Christmas time and look after him.”
Inverness make the trip to Paisley fresh from a two-week lay-off due to the international break, with Hughes hopeful his squad will benefit from the rest.
However, the Caley Jags have only won one of five games since last month’s break having previously been unbeaten, and Hughes is looking for a more successful return to action on this occasion.
He said: “It has certainly given us a chance to recharge the batteries, which is important mentally as well.
“But when you look back at the last international break in September you think it maybe knocked our momentum a bit.
“You don’t know how you’re going to react after it. Hopefully this one will serve us well, and we’ll get back to winning ways on Saturday.”