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.

Former Caley Thistle star Steven Hislop urges team to go in for kill and net play-off spot

ICT's Shane Sutherland (centre) celebrates after opening the scoring at Ayr at the weekend.
ICT's Shane Sutherland (centre) celebrates after opening the scoring at Ayr at the weekend.

Steven Hislop reckons Caley Thistle will be too strong for their Championship play-off rivals – and urged them to book their top-four spot as soon as possible.

The former Inverness forward will watch with interest on Friday as ICT host Championship leaders Kilmarnock in a match which could have huge implications for both clubs.

Derek McInnes’ Killie have a three-point cushion at the top of the table over chasers Arbroath with three fixtures remaining.

The Highlanders, meanwhile, have four matches remaining and are placed third, with a one-point advantage over Partick Thistle and are nine points adrift of Arbroath.

Despite blowing a 2-0 lead to draw 2-2 at Ayr on Saturday, the good news for ICT is fifth-placed Raith Rovers’ 1-0 defeat at home to Morton just about puts Billy Dodds’ into the play-offs for sure.

They require three points to get over the line to the play-offs, where it looks like Partick Thistle will be their quarter-final opponents over two legs, starting on Tuesday, May 3, with the second leg at home being three nights later.

The winning quarter-finalist will then face the Championship runners-up over two ties, before tackling the Premiership’s 11th club, which is currently St Johnstone, on May 20 and 23.

Get job done… then keep winning

Hislop, who played a key role in winning the First Division title with Inverness in 2004, has been impressed by his old club’s revival after a poor run of form caused concern.

Three wins and that draw at Ayr means the Caley Jags are bang on track for a shot at promotion, and Hislop urges them to go for the kill as Arbroath look for a favour.

He said: “Kilmarnock have kicked on and, unbelievably, Arbroath are still there.

“Ultimately, Inverness won’t care who wins the title race because they’re not in it, but they will want to keep the run going – especially with the chance to secure a play-off spot with a win this week.

Steven Hislop in his Caley Thistle playing days.

“That gets the job done and they then won’t take their foot off the pedal. Winning all four games until the end of the season will keep confidence high to go into the play-offs.

“Arbroath will be keeping an eye on what happens in Inverness, while Kilmarnock know if they win it will be another big one out of the way. I will be watching it – it will be a good game.

“The title is out with Caley Thistle’s reach and it is about securing the highest possible play-off position, probably against Partick Thistle.

“They had their 11-game sticky spell, but hopefully they can keep their unbeaten between now and the end of the season.

“If they can do that, it will maintain their positive mindsets. When you lose, a wee seed of doubt can creep in. All credit to them for turning it around after their poor run of form.”

No reason to fear Partick or Arbroath

With Arbroath, Inverness and Partick in second, third and four spots, Hislop sees no reason why, when their play-off place is confirmed, they cannot be anything other than optimistic.

He said: “If the play-offs finish as the teams are all placed now, I think Caley Thistle will take care of Partick Thistle and, without jinxing them, I’d fancy them to take care of Arbroath.

“Arbroath have only lost once this season at home, which is incredible, but it was against Inverness. Believe it or not, things like that can be in players’ minds.

“If they won those games, they would go in against St Johnstone or perhaps St Mirren in the final.

“That said, they can look no further ahead than Friday. They will cross that bridge when they come to it.

“Second place might just be beyond them, but they have to try and secure third to give them the second leg of the quarter-final home.”

Thrilled to see Staggies reach top six

Hislop also led the line for Ross County for two years from 2001 before crossing the Kessock Bridge to sign for Caley Thistle.

And he’s thrilled to see the Staggies secure a top-six spot in the Premiership, with a crack at securing a European berth not in any way unrealistic.

He added: “As a Jambo, I’m quite glad County can’t catch Hearts, but to have achieved top six given they were bottom of the league in October and without a win in 10 is incredible.

Ross County celebrate securing a top-six spot at full-time at Aberdeen.

“What County have done is beyond belief. I don’t think anyone would think they’d be in the top half going into the split, but they thoroughly deserve it.

“They have just gone about their jobs quietly and got the results. Both Highland clubs don’t like to talk about things. They just want to go out and do their jobs.

“I played with (County chief executive) Steven Ferguson at County (is someone who does that), as is (chairman) Roy MacGregor – I am delighted for them.

“I would love for Caley Thistle to join Ross County in the Premiership next season and perhaps aim to join them in the top six a year from now.”