Scott Kellacher has urged Caley Thistle to make home comforts count in their efforts to remain in League One.
Inverness are ninth and occupy the relegation play-off spot at present, but could potentially move out of the bottom two with a victory against Montrose on Saturday.
The visit of the Gable Endies kick starts a run of four home fixtures from Caley Thistle’s next five games.
Caley Jags have a total of six matches remaining on their grass home surface – five of which are against teams who play on artificial pitches.
Kellacher insists his side must aim to capitalise on home advantage in the weeks ahead.
He said: “We say it every season, but home form is so important.
“I listened to Derek McInnes talking about it on Wednesday after Kilmarnock’s game against Rangers.
“It’s on grass as well – a lot of the pitches are on astro, and for teams coming off that on to grass it’s a little bit different for them.
“We need to use it to our advantage.
“We need to get the fans behind us as well – they have been excellent of late. They have been coming to games home and away, and getting behind the boys.
“We have six home games left, and five away, so we know how important it is to try and have a good run at home.”
Inverness aiming to draw more teams into survival mix
Inverness are now just two points behind eighth-placed Annan Athletic with a game in hand.
It follows their victory over Kelty Hearts last Saturday, on a weekend in which a number of other results went in Caley Jags’ favour.
Kellacher insists Caley Thistle must focus on controlling their own fate, and a victory over Montrose this weekend would take them to within two points of Montrose, who sit seventh.
He added: “Probably the hardest one was when we beat Queen of the South at home, but fair play to Annan who beat Kelty that day, and then won the following week.
“That’s all it takes – for a team above us to win back-to-back games, and it becomes that bit harder for us as the chasing team.
“It can be a slog, but it’s my job, along with the staff, to keep refreshing it so we are challenging ourselves every day for the big challenge that lies ahead.
“It’s 11 massive games. We might go and win on Saturday, but Annan might go and win as well.
“It is in our hands. (But) we can’t control what happens elsewhere – we know anybody in the league can beat anybody.
“We didn’t expect all the results last week to go our way. They did, which was brilliant, we take it, but we are looking forward to Saturday now.”
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