Caley Thistle manager John Hughes hopes Ross Draper will follow Gary Warren’s lead and commit his future to the club.
Warren has extended his stay at Caledonian Stadium until the summer of 2019, while Draper, who is out of contract in the summer, is still mulling over his three-year extension offer from the club.
With the majority of his squad also coming to the end of their contracts, Hughes is ready to begin contract talks but Draper is his first priority.
He said: “Gary is a special player and we should be privileged to have him playing in Inverness. I hope he will be the first of many as we are working on getting Ross Draper fixed up and then we will look at the rest of the squad.
“One or two others will follow but if those who are out of contract want to look at their options elsewhere that is their prerogative as they will be aware we are doing the same in having a look at who is out there.”
While talks aimed at resolving Draper’s future and that of his team-mates continue, Hughes is also assessing his options in attack before the transfer window closes on Monday.
The Caley Jags manager believes bringing in support for Miles Storey in attack must be addressed in the next week.
He said: “Miles needs a hand and we all recognise we are short on numbers. We’ve lost Billy Mckay, Marley Watkins and Ryan Christie, guys who have decided to move on, and we know we need someone who can unlock the door by slotting in a pass or scoring a goal but they are hard to get.
“We hoped Anthony Stokes would be the one but that wasn’t to be and we will keep looking.
“I hoped Alex Fisher could be that guy but it shows the luck we are having this season that he has chipped a bone in his foot and will be out for a while.”
Andrea Mbuyi-Mutombo remains an option to play alongside Storey in attack against Hearts this weekend.
The Congolese forward was the main Inverness threat out wide in Saturday’s goalless draw with Partick Thistle and Hughes believes the best is yet to come.
He said: “Andrea had two games in a week which was perhaps a bit too much for him and he is learning it is a different style of football here in Scotland to what he is used to.
“He is a talented player and one who will only get better.”