Duncan Ferguson has praised Caley Thistle skipper Billy Mckay as the club’s record scorer gets set for his 300th game for ICT this Saturday.
The striker, in his third spell with the Highlanders, has scored 112 goals in 299 outings, taking him 11 clear of Dennis Wyness, who played 243 times for Inverness over two spells until 2008.
The 35-year-old will aim to lead by example and help the Caley Jags post their first League One win of the season against Montrose after an opening day 1-1 draw with Dumbarton and a 1-0 loss at Annan Athletic.
Mckay has been a ‘fantastic servant’
Ferguson, a former lethal forward for Dundee United, Rangers, Everton and Newcastle United, said of his number nine: “Billy has been a fantastic servant to the club, so we all love him, he is well respected.
“He is experienced, been there and done it. We have a young squad and I have made him club captain.
“I respect him, he is a very good player, he has proved that over the years, and he will keep going and we will keep playing him.”
Ferguson wants a winning weekend
Mckay will be aiming to score his first goal of the season, with his last coming in a 1-0 win against this weekend’s visitors.
That was in May in the play-off semi-final in the Championship, but ICT slipped out of the division by losing the final against Hamilton Accies.
Stuart Petrie’s Gable Endies have two points on board, but will be without former Inverness and Ross County midfielder Michael Gardyne, who was sent off against Arbroath last week.
Ferguson expects his team will have to be at their best to get past their opponents.
He said: “Montrose got a good draw at Arbroath and were down to 10 men for a lot of the match.
“It will be a tough match, in the play-offs, they were the better team down there, we were the better team up here.
“They have retained most of their squad from last season and hopefully we can get a positive result on Saturday.
“Winning games gives everyone that feel good factor. We drew the first game which is not what I wanted. We need to win matches.”
No more transfers for boss Ferguson
With former chairman Alan Savage back at the club to help as a consultant and the proposed deal with Ketan Makwana’s Seventy7 Ventures suspended, Ferguson has been told there’s no scope for any more signings after keeper Musa Dibaga and defender/midfielder Wallace Duffy last week.
He added: “I don’t think there will be any change with transfers. We are not going to go forward with what we had lined up.
“The club are going through the process of looking through finances forensically. For me, we go with the squad that we have got.”
On-loan Dundee United keeper Jack Newman and defender Danny Devine had not trained in the first half of the week and are the manager’s main injury concerns.
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