Caley Thistle manager John Hughes believes the next two months will define his club’s season.
Inverness are second in the Premiership and aim to extend their unbeaten home record when Partick Thistle visit the Caledonian Stadium tomorrow.
Hughes said fringe players could soon find themselves with big roles to play in the forthcoming fixtures.
Hughes said: “The next two months are vital. We’ve got a lot of football over the Christmas period and hopefully we can keep everyone injury free.
“Come the start of January hopefully we’re still winning football matches and playing a nice style of football.
“Were three games last week a bit much for us? Do we need to freshen it up? These are the kind of questions I’ll need to answer.
“We’ve been trying all sorts in training and I’m analysing what suits us best for tomorrow’s match.
“All these players sitting on the bench are anxious to play. I feel for them because they train great and never let their heads go down.”
Hughes insists the squad he inherited is justifying his decision to add only Lewis Horner and Ibra Sekajja to his options this season.
Hughes added: “We talked about player recruitment at the start of the year and I said we weren’t rushing into it because I felt we had enough at the club.
“We wanted more from the likes of Danny Williams, Ryan Christie, Liam Polworth, Nick Ross and Danny Devine.
“Williams has been playing regularly and he’s done exceptionally well. Ryan’s another one who’s given us the best of his talent.
“However, Danny Devine is up against two centre halves that have been absolutely superb for us, and Carl is up against a left back who’s flying. And then there’s Nick Ross, someone who plays in an advanced position and just can’t get in.
“It might come to the stage, especially in Nick’s case, where we give them three or four games and tell them to grab their chance. Usually when a season goes on players get a chance because of injuries to others, but we’ve not had any and long may that continue.
“It helps us to build confidence and momentum when we pick the same team.”