Richie Hart insists Caley Thistle can enter the new season with a spring in their step – boosted by boss Billy Dodds still being in charge.
An injury-ravaged campaign derailed ICT’s chances of promotion from the Championship last season.
Yet a late surge almost took them into the play-offs, with a last-day defeat against Ayr denying them that opportunity.
Their form in the closing months of the campaign took Dodds’ stars all the way to Hampden and a Scottish Cup final against Celtic.
An admin error at Queen’s Park let Inverness back into the cup and wins over top-flight Livingston and Kilmarnock and a 3-0 semi-final victory against Falkirk pitched them in against Ange Postecoglou’s champions.
The north side put up a decent show, losing 3-1 and made the Hoops work for their treble.
Although the Viaplay Cup starts on July 15 with a home tie against Bonnyrigg Rose of League Two, the main prize to target is promotion from the Championship at the seventh time of asking.
Harper’s shining example of success
Hart, who played 115 times for ICT mainly in the top-flight until 2008, says dealing in Dodds for two more years was a smart move by the board
He said: “Fair play to Billy Dodds for taking the team to the Scottish Cup final and to within two points of the top four, given the scale of the injuries they faced throughout the season. That would hamper most teams.
“Billy’s done a really good job and fully deserved his new contract. They have a lot of really good young players coming through and that’s really benefiting the club. These lads are getting valuable Championship experience.
“For example, look at left-back Cammy Harper – he was exceptional in the final against Jota, especially in the first half. They have good players at a young age.
“The difficulty then becomes whether the club can hold on to them when they do so well.
“Caley Thistle will be there or thereabouts. They tend to go through these spells where their performances are brilliant, and they pick up loads of wins.
“They also had a blip again in the middle of the season, which hurt them in the end.
“Had they picked up a few more results, they would have been right in the mix. They just need to be more consistent and turn some draws into wins and I’d expect them to be in the mix.
“They reached the Scottish Cup final, albeit helped by replacing Queen’s Park. That said, they had to beat Livingston, Kilmarnock and Falkirk.
“In the final against Celtic, they did as well as they could and exceeded a lot of people’s expectations.”
Injuries were ‘manager’s nightmare’
Hart says for Inverness to be in the automatic promotion chase, they cannot afford the bad luck with injuries that scuppered their chances last term.
He said: “They have the ability to challenge for the title, as well as the experience of playing in the Championship. They know what it takes and how to pick up points at difficult places.
“Hopefully, having a settled team with all your players fit and on the pitch will be the difference for them.
“The injuries they had last year was a manager’s nightmare and it became so difficult to keep those levels of consistency going.”
Swift league start so crucial for ICT
Hart, who also starred for Ross County, hopes the Viaplay Cup this month will provide a useful launchpad for ICT when they kick off in the league.
He added: “The Championship has been such a competitive league for so long. Add Dundee United into the mix, who are already spending and strengthening (after signing Ross Docherty and Kevin Holt from Partick Thistle and Liam Grimshaw from Morton).
“It going to be important for Caley Thistle to get off to the best possible start, to try and build a bit of momentum and hopefully they will get that with the games in the Viaplay Cup.”
After hosting Bonnyrigg in that cup tie on July 15, ICTs other Group E games are – Dumbarton (away) on July 18, Airdrieonians (home) on July 25 and Dundee (away) on July 30.