Caley Thistle midfielder Nick Ross wants his club’s directors to do everything they can to keep attacker Billy Mckay.
The Northern Ireland international netted a superb double to help John Hughes’ men hit back from behind to defeat Kilmar-nock 2-1 at Rugby Park on Saturday. Inverness had to play 43 minutes of the second half with only 10 men after defender David Raven’s red card.
Mckay, who has scored four times in his past three games for Caley Jags, will become a free agent in the summer when his contract expires. But Ross hopes the 26-year-old, who joined Caley Thistle in 2011, can be persuaded to stick around for another year.
He said: “Billy’s first goal was something else. It reminded me of a Matt Le Tissier goal from years ago for Southampton (against Newcastle at The Dell in 1993). He flicked it over the defender and I thought he was going to hit it on the volley but he just waited for the finish.
“For the second goal, I could have been in to score but I took a bad touch. I got a bit fortunate but I knew Billy would finish it off if I gave to him. And he did. He’s a really important player for us and probably the only out-and-out forward we’ve got. Transfer window speculation is always there. We have a few players who seem to be attracting attention. We want to keep everyone and see how far we get.”
Ross was praised by Hughes for an excellent contribution and the 23-year-old, whose contract also expires at the end of the season, hopes he has done enough to retain his starting slot.
He said: “I hope I’ve given the manager something to think about. This is the first time I’ve played two games in a row since about this time last year. I’ve really enjoyed being out there and getting all the minutes I can. Hopefully, I can keep my place.”
Inverness moved up to third thanks to Saturday’s victory and Ross sees no reason why his side cannot remain in the top three until the end of the season.
He added: “Can we push for Europe? I think so. The manager says to us we don’t know how good we can be. We are not looking too far ahead because we know there are a lot of teams all scrapping in there. But we know we have the quality to do it.”