Caley Thistle goalkeeper Ryan Esson insists his club’s historic achievement of qualifying for European football for the first time is just reward for the players’ efforts this season.
Europa League football will come to the Highlands for the first time in Caley Jags’ 21-year history in July after the Highlanders secured third place with a 1-0 win against Dundee on Saturday.
Esson, the club’s longest-serving player, is now player-coach at Caledonian Stadium and believes his team-mates deserve all the plaudits for realising their season-long goal.
He said: “We’ve made a lot of progress over the last few years but this is special. We started the season believing we could do it as we regard ourselves as a top-six side now. All the credit should go to the players.
“It was a case of how far up the top six could we go. We made a good start to the season and, because of that, we knew we had a chance of staying there and that became the challenge.
“Some of us played in the First Division and won it but that’s been done before. This is history-making and we’re the players who did it. But it’s more than that; it shows what can be achieved if you apply yourself.
“I’ve been here a while and, as a coach, I know how much work has gone on behind the scenes in terms of the staff and the players. I’ve worked with the youth team goalkeepers since Dean Brill got injured and they’ve helped keep up my standards. Everyone has played a part in this.”
Esson already has European experience, having played in the UEFA Cup qualifiers for Aberdeen in 2000, but the memory is not a positive one and he hopes next season’s adventure is a much more enjoyable one.
He said: “I played against Bohemians with Aberdeen. It’s one I’d rather forget as we lost 2-1 at Pittodrie before going out on away goals after winning 1-0 over there.
“You take the highs and lows as a player but those games were 15 years ago. I remember so little about them other than the fact we went out, so I won’t be mentioning it to the players.
“Right now we’ll just enjoy the moment. We’ve got two league games and a Scottish Cup final still to prepare for, so we won’t look too far ahead.”