Danny Devine admits Caley Thistle are lucky to be still in the Scottish Cup – but his eyes are on the prize after reaching the semi-finals again.
The determined defender won the coveted silverware at Inverness in 2015 and they are one win away from reaching the final once more after beating Premiership visitors Kilmarnock 2-1 on Friday.
In a last-eight tie, ICT came from a goal down to seal their win with a Billy Mckay spot-kick and winner from captain Sean Welsh.
Yet, two rounds ago, it seemed as if they were out as Championship leaders Queen’s Park won 2-0 at the Caledonian Stadium.
However, the Spiders were expelled for fielding ineligible player Euan Henderson and ICT were back in it.
They grasped that second chance in style by thumping top-flight Livingston 3-0 in West Lothian, and they’ve now sent another Premiership side falling.
Devine praised the team for responding to the challenges once being granted a fresh opportunity in the competition.
He said: “We didn’t deserve to win that tie against Queen’s Park. They were the better team – we had an off-night.
“We got the second chance and have been thrown in against two Premiership sides, so it’s not like we got a second chance and it was easy.
“We had to work for it and beat two teams from a higher league, but we showed again on Friday how good we are.
“We’re a strong unit and a strong team, so we will look forward to the upcoming games.”
Devine determined to go all the way
Devine doesn’t care which side Inverness are paired with in Monday’s night’s semi-final draw, because he says they will believe they can trouble any opponent when the Hampden tie comes around on April 29 or 30.
He said: “There is no point turning up unless you think you can win.
“It’s going to be very difficult, no matter who we get. It’s a one-off game at Hampden and we will certainly fight for every ball and give it our absolute all.
“Anything can happen. We’re going down to Hampden to win, no matter who we play.
“It’s special to go back to Hampden. It has been a long time. I was there last time, but some of the younger lads probably don’t yet realise what they’ve done by reaching the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup.
“We don’t want it to finish here – we want to go all the way. There is no point being in the competition if you don’t want to do that, so we’re looking forward to it.”
Caley Thistle handled Kilmarnock
Devine, who was a Dunfermline player when ICT lost the 2019 semi-final to Hearts, felt the team handled Kilmarnock well on Friday, which underlines their battling qualities.
He said: “We felt comfortable during the game. We said that at half-time, given the creating chances and we had good control of the game.
“But we knew Kilmarnock would come out in the second half with a wee bit more fight. I’m sure Derek McInnes would have been at them at half-time.
“But we’ve shown that it’s nothing we can’t handle. Against Livingston, we showed we’re a really tight unit which fights for one another.”
Henderson deliveries trouble rivals
On-loan St Mirren wide midfielder Jay Henderson was a stand-out against Killie and he continues to shine for ICT.
And Devine feels he was one of many players who should be proud of their performances.
He added: “This squad is filled with quality. Since Jay has come in, he’s been brilliant.
“His crossing is some of the best I’ve seen, but his game intelligence is also top-notch.
“You can also look at Cammy Harper returning to left-back, he was excellent, as was big Wallace Duffy at right-back, and Robbie Deas and young boys like Nathan Shaw.
“They really stepped up on Friday and against Livingston in the cup. Hopefully it can give them a boost going into these last league games and we will give it our best shot.”
Caley Thistle will resume their push for a play-off place when they return to Championship action against front-runners Queen’s Park on Saturday.
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