Daniel MacKay is certain younger brother Calum MacKay will not look back after making his first start for Caley Thistle.
Calum, who is 17, was among Billy Dodds’ starting line-up for Saturday’s SPFL Trust trophy tie against Brechin City.
It followed his senior debut last month, after he came on as a late substitute in a 4-0 loss to Motherwell in the Premier Sports Cup.
Inverness were held to a 3-3 draw by Brechin on Saturday, before advancing on penalties.
Winger Daniel replaced Calum after 62 minutes of the tie, in which Caley Jags squandered a 3-1 lead before scraping through on spot-kicks.
Daniel’s own breakthrough into the Caley Thistle first team came in the same competition, marking his debut at the age of 16 with a goal against Peterhead in October 2017.
After netting 10 goals in 57 spells he earned a move to Hibernian last year, before returning to Caledonian Stadium for a second spell on loan this summer.
Although only 21, MacKay says he is leaning on his own experience to help his brother make a smooth transition to first team football.
MacKay said: “I was glad he got the start. With him coming in and signing full-time, it has been a big transition for him getting used to it, just as I was three or four years ago.
“I’m delighted for him getting some good game time and he did all right in spells.
“It would have been good if we both got on the park at the same time. But with the way the game was going the manager felt he needed a wee bit more experience – as stupid as that sounds for me at the age of 21.
“Hopefully he can play more once he bulks up a wee bit and grows into himself.
“He has a big career ahead of him, he just needs to be steady in his work and push on from here.
“It has been different for him and different for me as well, because with a four-year gap you never tend to play with each other or be with each other so much.
“I understand his game and he understands mine, watching each other over the years.”
MacKay family watched on with pride
The substitution midway through the second half was a proud moment for the MacKay family.
Daniel added: “It was good to come on for him and it is good for the family, and the club as well because it is not often you get two local brothers coming through.
“My mum was at the game, but my dad was away working offshore.
“But he would have been tuning in from afar and hoping Calum did well.
“It was definitely a proud moment today and a proud moment when he signed. I came back to the club on loan a week or two later.
“It has probably worked out quite well that way in that I can guide him along a little bit and tell him what he’s not doing right as well.”
Back to league business for Caley Jags
Inverness return to Championship action on Saturday, when they make the trip to Ayr United.
Following back-to-back away victories against Raith Rovers and Dundee, MacKay is eager to maintain league momentum.
He added: “It has been a strange month with the weekend off following the Queen’s death and then a good result against Dundee and then the cup.
“It has been a wee bit stagnated, but it might help us changing the team around and freshening boys up.
“But you obviously want to keep momentum going in the league.
“We’ve seen in past years, once we get a run we’re quite hard to stop.
“We had a sticky patch, but we’re through that now. We just need to kick on and make sure we take advantage of the big games coming up.”
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