Winger Daniel MacKay remains in contact with parent club Hibs – but kicking on at Caley Thistle happens mainly under the guidance of ICT boss Billy Dodds.
The 21-year-old, back at his home-city club on a season-long loan, has 20 made appearances for Inverness this term, having recovered from a knee injury to continue to remain involved at the sharp end.
Hibs manager Lee Johnson and the Premiership side’s loans chief, former Hibees star Eddie May, track MacKay and all loanees’ progress and maintain communication with each one.
Specific instructions for ICT matches
MacKay, who last week spoke about his aim of scoring more goals, explained how his game is tuned into the club he’s currently starring for.
He said: “We’ve got a different style of winger – the gaffer here wants me out wide, and then when the ball is out at the other side, he wants me in at the back post and in areas where I can affect it.
“There’s not much Hibs can do to change that, but in general it’s mainly about what the gaffer wants here.
“I’m sure the gaffer speaks to Eddie, I’m not sure, but I imagine if they want me to work on a specific thing, they would mention it to the gaffer.
“I haven’t had any specific instructions from Hibs to say ‘do this more’ or ‘do that’, because at the end of the day the gaffer here can’t have me doing completely different things from everyone else.
“In general, it’s about what the gaffer here tells me to do, and hopefully it looks all right for other people.”
Communication lines open with Hibs
And MacKay, who was on loan at Championship winners Kilmarnock last season, insists the lines of communication with Easter Road are crucial to help him continue to develop in the Highlands.
He added: “The loan manager, Eddie May, keeps me in the loop with what’s being said, and he goes to the games sometimes and then he’ll give me a phone call to make some suggestions.
“They have a loans meeting every month to discuss what players have done, so Eddie will feed that back to me.
“It’s been good, but I know myself when I’ve not had a good game. I’m my own harshest critic.
“I’ve got a good relationship with the gaffer too, so we can have conversations to see where I can kick on.
“I get along well with the gaffer, and I get along well with Eddie at Hibs, so they’ve helped me out a lot – even when I was having a bit of a tough time at the start of this year.”
🔜 The match info for our home game against Cove Rangers on Monday 2nd January is available now
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— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) December 27, 2022
ICT target long-awaited league win
Inverness need more MacKay magic on Monday when they seek to win their first league game in nine attempts when they host Cove Rangers.
An away victory for Jim McIntyre’s team would see the north rivals trade places and ICT would drop to eighth spot ahead of a trip to second-bottom toilers Arbroath on January 7.
Injury-hit Caley Thistle, with nine key players out, are determined to bounce back following last Friday’s crushing 5-1 defeat at Partick Thistle.
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