Caley Thistle’s record scorer and assistant manager Billy Mckay hopes his club can sign competition for HIMSELF next month by bringing in another striker.
However, the experienced forward insists he and his team-mates must do more to find their killer touch in League One.
The 36-year-old has scored more goals for ICT than any other player, with 113 goals in 316 matches.
This season, Mckay’s sole goal came in the 1-0 victory over Queen of the South.
The lack of goals is an issue for the Highlanders.
With just 15 goals scored, they are the equal lowest scorers in the division alongside Queen of the South over 16 games.
Since October, amid administration-forced changes, Mckay has been assistant to head coach Scott Kellacher.
Club consultant Alan Savage this week said ICT will be able to sign an under-20s player and they’ve identified their target.
More attacking competition required
Mckay, who will be part of the team playing away to second-top Stenhousemuir this Saturday, said they’ve yet to be given the green light to make a move – but hopes they can bolster their young squad.
He said: “The attacking position is an area we’re definitely looking at.
“It all depends on the situation with the club in terms of how much wiggle-room we have, or if we can do any business, which is still a question.
“We have a young bench, and we definitely need help. We need more competition in attack, although we still believe we still have players who can do more in that area as well. That’s something we need to improve on.”
Mckay: ‘As long as we win, I’m happy’
Mckay believes he’s capable of regaining a scoring streak once he hits the net again, but insists a chat with Kellacher also led to the conclusion who scores the goals is less important than winning games.
He said: “I still feel fine and I’m still training.
“I know I need to be scoring more goals, but it’s not like I’m missing chance after chance.
“Against Montrose recently, I had a big chance. Maybe because I’d not scored in a while, I was concentrating more on just getting a good contact than picking a corner.
“I have been on these kind of (barren) runs before, but when I get out of it, I normally kick on and go on a good goalscoring run. That’s what I’ve got in mind.
“I’m an experienced player, so I try not to let things like this affect me.
“I’ve had a chat with the manager about it and the bigger picture is I don’t care who scores as long as we win games and stay in League One – that’s our main aim. As long as we’re winning, I’m happy.”
Forward Cairns closing in on return
Highly-rated 20-year-old Ethan Cairns would have provided a threat in attack this term had it not been for injury setbacks.
However, Mackay confirms he’s closing in on his first minutes of the campaign.
He said: “Ethan has had injury problems this season, so it hasn’t gone the way we’d hoped for him after a really good pre-season.
“He had to pull back in training, but he is back in training this week, which is a plus.”
Scoring first can make real difference
Mckay believes playing with wide men is helping the team improve their ball delivery into opponents’ boxes.
Now he is urging the side to try and get their noses in front to give them the best chance to secure more victories.
He added: “It’s important to get the first goal. It’s something we’ve not done as much as we should have, for the dominance we’ve had.
“The next step is to get the first goal and then teams might open up against us and we can really break them down.
“We’ve had the set-back after doing well and we’re really positive to go for the win.”
Thompson reacted well after red card
ICT, hampered by their 15-point administration punishment, are ninth in the table – 11 points behind eighth-place Annan Athletic.
After three successive league wins, Inverness slid to a 2-0 home loss against Arbroath last week.
A first half red card for 20-year-old midfielder Robbie Thompson left the Caley Jags with plenty to do.
Second half goals from Dylan Smith and Gavin Reilly led to Kellacher’s first league loss.
Mckay backs Thompson to learn from the harsh lesson and praised his response this week.
He said: “Robbie has trained really well. He was apologetic after the game and I’m sure he will learn from it.
“More experienced players than him have done things like that in the past. It’s a learning curve for him.
“We’re not the type of people who will go down hard on him, so he’s just got to learn,
“He’s responded well, which everyone has from the defeat, and that’s what matters.”
Saturday’s hosts Stenhousemuir, last season’s League Two champions, are just one point and one place behind leaders Arbroath following their 2-1 loss at Queen of the South. They had won four league and cup games in succession before that.
Buses boost for home ICTFC games
Caley Thistle Supporters’ Trust have teamed up with Stagecoach to offer fans a better chance to sample the revamped Bar 94 with an additional bus service to and from the Caledonian Stadium.
The new deal kicks in for next Saturday’s League One match against Cove Rangers.
To enable fans to enjoy Bar 94 without having to drive, a service will leave Inverness Bus Station at 1pm, with a return journey from 6pm.
These new journeys are in addition to the long-established journey from the bus station at 2.15 pm and the return 10 minutes after the full-time whistle.
Stagecoach will be operating these journeys as normal bus services, open to all passengers, and at no cost to either the club or the supporters’ trust.
Passengers holding under-22 or senior citizen and disabled concessionary cards will travel free on the service. For other passengers the fare is £2.40 for a single journey.
Stagecoach are donating fare revenue from passengers using the matchday service on December 28 to the ICT Supporters’ Trust.
When games are at times other than 3pm on a Saturday, the trust and club will let fans know what the times of the journeys will be.
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