Caley Thistle captain Billy Mckay hopes Hamilton remains a happy hunting ground as the Inverness side prepare for the Championship play-off final.
The evergreen striker popped up with the vital winner as Inverness edged past League One opponents Montrose 1-0 in Saturday’s second leg of the semi-final.
Following the goalless draw at Links Park last Tuesday, ICT had to win or they would be demoted to the third tier for the first time in 25 years.
League One runners-up Hamilton Accies, meanwhile, beat Alloa Athletic 3-2, and 5-4 on aggregate, to book their place in the two-legged showdown to determine who will play in next season’s Championship.
Mckay’s penalty-box strike took Inverness through and the 35-year-old hopes he can find the net at New Douglas Park to keep his club up.
He said: “It was a massive goal. Hopefully I might score more important goals in these next two games.
“We needed a breakthrough. It wasn’t the prettiest performance in the final third, but luckily, I was there at the right moment to put it in the back of the net. It felt good.”
90+5’ FT Accies 3-2 Alloa (5-4 on agg) cinch Championship play off semi final 2nd leg. We will now host Inverness CT here on Weds 15th 8.05pm and go up there next Sat 18th 5.30pm both live on tv pic.twitter.com/xoeD0iGRd9
— Hamilton Accies FC (@acciesfc) May 11, 2024
‘Good memories’ away to the Accies
Mckay has scored three times at Hamilton when playing for Ross County and has two in Inverness colours.
His late goal in April 2023 took them third in the table with two games to go before they lost their last-day game against Ayr United to miss out on the play-offs.
Mckay is eager to add to his 12 goals this term when they face John Rankin’s Accies on their synthetic surface.
He said: “I have played on a good few plastic pitches over the years. You get used to it and we train on it beforehand too.
“I have played at Hamilton plenty of times, so I know what the surface is like.
“I have some good memories and scored some important goals at Hamilton for Inverness and Ross County, so I hope that continues.”
Watching from bench was ‘torture’
Not long after scoring against Montrose, manager Duncan Ferguson replaced Mckay with Adam Brooks.
The record club scorer with 113 goals admits the closing 24 minutes was tough to watch as the side faced a determined Angus side.
He added: “I never welcome coming off, but I got a little knock on my ankle and I don’t know if the gaffer had seen that.
“He changed it and, to be honest, it was absolute torture watching the rest of the game.
“The lads dug in and got it over the line. Montrose threatened once and Mark Ridgers pulled off the save.
“Apart from that, it was comfortable, although it didn’t feel comfortable because we wanted to win so much.
“Half the job is done and we’ve Hamilton now to beat to try and stay in this division.”
💪 Captain Billy Mckay with the vital goal yesterday against Montrose
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) May 12, 2024
Just one loss in last seven games
Inverness won just four home league fixtures all season, but the narrow victory over Montrose was hot on the heels of recent wins against visitors Arbroath and Morton.
Mckay feels the team are clicking well when they need results the most to survive the drop.
He said: “The improving home form has definitely been a plus.
“If this was the middle of the season, we’d maybe be a bit more nervous playing at home.
“If you look at the last seven games, not every performance has been brilliant, but we’ve only lost once and that was against Raith Rovers, which was probably our best performance of the season.
“We now know we’ve two legs to win it and try to stay up.”
FULL TIME: ICTFC 1-0 Montrose
Billy Mckay's goal wins the game and tie as we progress to the #cinchChamp Play-Off Final!
GET IN! 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/rQ0Zlq4QmK
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) May 11, 2024