Caley Thistle winger Luis Longstaff thought his season was over – but he is delighted he is able to help the Highlanders win their League One survival battle.
A hamstring injury and groin issues meant the 24-year-old had been out since early March, but he came off the bench in last week’s 1-1 draw at Stenhousemuir – when a late goal robbed ICT of a victory.
This Saturday, in their penultimate game of the season, eighth-place Caley Jags host League One champions Arbroath with a one-point lead over ninth-placed Annan Athletic, who take on relegated Dumbarton.
The team which finishes ninth will contest the relegation play-offs against sides from League Two.
The pressure is on administration-hit ICT to get a first win over the Red Lichties since April last year when both clubs tumbled out of the Championship.
Longstaff said: “I had my hamstring injury then an ongoing groin problem throughout the year, so I did think it would be me out for the remainder of the season, but the recovery has gone quite well.
“I always wanted to get back for the last couple of games, that was always the aim – but I thought that might be a bit unrealistic.
“It gave me something to aim for, and here we are.
“It’s horrible when you’re not playing and not able to help.
“It’s good to be back, so hopefully we can now push it over the line in the next couple of weeks.
“I’m 100% ready to contribute and help keep this club up. Being out of six or seven weeks gives you a bit of a kick to be ready when you can.”
Manager Kellacher keeps everyone positive – despite challenging term
Longstaff feels there was a “big uptick” in his own performance levels after Scott Kellacher became the head coach when Duncan Ferguson was sacked amid the administration chaos last October.
The former Liverpool youth player explained how the hammer-blow of an automatic 15-point punishment unified the young squad as they sought to battle back on the park.
He said: “The situation is a difficult one, but it helps everyone rally around. It’s almost like us against everybody else – we’ve had this setback, and we want to get through it.
“It has helped that a lot of boys are here from last year and the coaches had personal relationships with everybody.
“The manager has not lost that since he took charge. He’s kept that with each player, but also there is the management side where it’s not just a personal relationship.
“He’s been brilliant since he took over – I can’t speak highly enough of him.
“Everyone can tell by the performances and results the manager has made a massive difference.
“Even when you come in and walk around the stadium any day, it’s a positive atmosphere.
“With two games to go, we’re a one point above Annan in the relegation play-off place, but it’s still the same positive atmosphere that we’ve had all season.
“We’ve gone on some good unbeaten runs and that helps us on the pitch. It allows everyone to play with a bit more freedom.”
Champions Arbroath ‘can put out whatever team they like’ – Longstaff
Arbroath caused fury amid some of the ICT support when they made EIGHT changes then fell to a 5-1 defeat at Annan last week – having wrapped up the title seven days previously.
However, Longstaff says the focus at Inverness this week has been how they can finally get a result against a side they’ve failed to even score against in 1-0, 2-0 and 3-0 league losses this term.
He said:Â “We’ve struggled this season against Arbroath, not even scoring a goal against them.
“Hopefully we have saved them all for the last game.
“Arbroath have won the league, and done their jobs, so they can put out whatever team they like. We’re just focused on ourselves.
“Whatever Arbroath team turns up, it’s out of our control. This week has all been about us performing as best we can and trying to get a result on Saturday.”
‘Massive achievement’ if ICT stay up
When administration was triggered, ICT were plunged briefly to bottom spot, before Dumbarton replaced them as they, too, entered administration and got a 15-point deduction.
Inverness were cast adrift of eight other clubs and faced a battle to survive.
Though their fate could go right to matchday 36, Longstaff thinks keeping the club in League One would be a huge success story.
He said: “Ever since the 15-point deduction, we have spoken about how it would be some achievement just to stay up.
“We can’t lose sight of that.
“It has come down to the last couple of games, but even if it takes until the Montrose game next weekend and we stay up, it will still be a massive achievement.
“But we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We still need to do it. We’re close and we’ve put ourselves in a good position.
“When we got that 15-point deduction, if you said that, with two games to go, we’d be one point above the relegation zone with a massive goal advantage, we’d have taken it.
“Yet there have been points this season when we’ve dropped points and we could have been safe by now.
“But we’ve got these last two games and we want to push on over the line.”
- Caley Thistle tonight (Friday) completed the emergency loan signing of Celtic B goalkeeper Marcus Gill for the second week running.
With number one Musa Dibaga ruled out for three months with a hamstring tear, the 17-year-old played in last week’s draw at Stenny.
He’s the second keeper loaned from Celtic this season, with Aidan Rice featuring in the 1-1 draw with Alloa when Dibaga was on international duty with Gambia.
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