Caley Thistle captain Danny Devine says he’s “got a feeling” that the troubled club can survive on and off the park.
The long-serving centre-half’s immediate focus is to help Inverness earn three vital League One points at home to Alloa Athletic on Saturday.
After losing 1-0 to Annan Athletic last week, the Highlanders are eighth in the division, two points in front of their relegation play-off rivals from Dumfries and Galloway. They are also one point behind Montrose.
Without the 15 points docked when they went into administration in October, Inverness would be fourth now rather than weekend visitors Alloa.
Much of the attention this week has been away from the park.
Monday morning’s eye-opening statement from administrators warned that ICT are “at significant risk”. The March 6 deadline for a buyer to bid had passed.
This warning was followed by a rallying call for financial help from consultant Alan Savage, who will have put in £1m over the course of the season to keep it all going.
However, a midweek summit between 10 key shareholders was deemed to be “very positive” and there is renewed optimism that buyer talks can resume.
‘Might be moving in right direction’
Devine, whose second spell with ICT kicked off in 2020, senses that Caley Thistle can recover from their situation behind the scenes, while the players continue their great escape bid to remain in League One.
He said: “Weirdly enough, I have a great belief that this club will sort itself out.
“I don’t know why – it’s just a feeling I’ve got.
“Maybe because we’ve such a young squad, the younger lads don’t pick up on it as much as more experienced players like me.
“It’s a great club and I’ve spent the majority of my career here. I know what it’s about and the people amongst it, and the people in the city. I have a strange feeling that things will work themselves out.
“We’re still a bit away from that, but from the news after Wednesday’s meeting, I think we might be moving in the right direction.”
Points deduction ‘galvanised’ squad
The 32-year-old former Northern Ireland youth international explained that hearing people say ICT were going down after their 15-point hit this season unified Scott Kellacher’s squad as they fought back with positive results.
He said: “When we went into administration, and things were not great off the park, people wrote us off.
“People said they can’t see us coming through it after getting the 15-point deduction.
“But I think it gave all the boys a point to prove.
“It has galvanised us in the changing room. We want to prove people wrong. We want to do what we can on the park to make things better.
“If we can send our fans home happy, we’re doing our part.
“Hopefully everything will sort itself out off the park.”
Devine ‘gutted’ after losing to Annan
Devine is determined to see off Alloa after struggling to his head around losing to Annan after Paul Smith’s third-minute goal was followed by a dominant but goalless ICT display.
The defender added: “I don’t think I’ve ever felt the way I did after a game like I did last Saturday. I was absolutely gutted – I could not believe we lost.
“We lost, but we didn’t play badly. Some of the football we played was very good, and it was attack v defence for most of the game. We just didn’t score.
“I don’t think we need to change too much going into Saturday’s game. We will take any positives we can from it and move forward.
“We just need to take our chances, like we did last Tuesday (in the 4-1 win against Stenhousemuir).
“The boys are still confident.
“Last week was a big wake-up call. We know what football is about. Things can change in an instant.
“We dominated the game, yet lost, so there was real frustration for me afterwards.
“It took me a day or two to get over it. Usually, I’m quite good at moving on from these things, but this is a new week and a new game and that’s what we’re focused on.”
ICTFC’s main rivals meet at Montrose
ICT have taken seven points from nine available against Alloa this term, but their wins have been 1-0 and 2-1, so a tight contest is expected again.
Inverness fans will also be keeping tabs on events at Links Park on Saturday as Montrose and Annan meet.
Dumbarton, who are also in administration, will be officially relegated if they fail to defeat Queen of the South, and/or Annan avoid defeat. Only six fixtures remain for all sides after this weekend.
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