Caley Thistle manager John Hughes aims to end his side’s eight-match run without a league win this afternoon as they bid to fend off the increasing threat of today’s opponents St Johnstone.
Inverness remain third in the Scottish Premiership, and will play Falkirk in this month’s Scottish Cup final, but have not won a league game since their 2-1 victory against St Mirren on February 14.
During the poor run Saints have made up ground on the Highlanders, moving within four points of Caley Jags with last week’s 2-0 win against Dundee.
Hughes is well aware of the Perth side’s advances and has called for his side to avoid any further slip-ups.
Hughes said: “Over the last six weeks, I’ve looked at it with the players, and over the last 10 games we should have been six or seven points better off.
“If we’re going to achieve what we want to, we have to be ruthless in our demands on each other to go and get the job done.
“Third place is in our grasp, so let’s go and take it. That’s the message we’re putting into the dressing-room. I think we deserve it but we’re fully aware of the teams chasing us, Dundee United and St Johnstone.
“If we can go to St Johnstone and pick up the three points, or take something from the match, it will go a long way towards taking us where we want to go.”
Hughes is full of respect for today’s opponents but felt hard done by on Caley Jags’ last trip to McDiarmid Park when Saints won 1-0 thanks to a Brian Graham penalty, for which the forward was retrospectively suspended for diving.
Hughes added: “St Johnstone are similar to Inverness. They just get on with it. They are a club full of honesty and integrity and never shout their mouths off about what they’re going to do.
“They are Scottish Cup champions, top six last year, going for Europe again this year and sold their main forward, similar to us.
“But they just get on with it with a really good spirit.
“We know what we’ll be up against at St Johnstone. Hopefully, it’s a cracking game. Last time there a couple of decisions by the referee spoiled it a little bit.”