Inverness Caley Thistle record goalscorer Billy Mckay determined to avoid ‘unthinkable’ relegation as Highland club prepares to begin Championship play-off campaign at Montrose
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Billy Mckay admits that the prospect of Inverness Caledonian Thistle playing in League One next season is “unthinkable”.
Caley Thistle will need to make it through the play-offs to remain in the Championship for next season, despite a 3-1 win over Morton last Friday evening.
The first stage of that task will see Inverness travel to Montrose tonight looking to put themselves in a strong position ahead of the second leg at the Caledonian Stadium this weekend.
For Mckay, ICT’s record goalscorer, it is a far cry from thoughts of European football in his first spell at the club, or even last season’s Scottish Cup final.
He is no stranger to the feeling of being relegated, but that only means he is well aware of what is at stake for the Caley Jags over this week and – hopefully – next.
“It would mean everything to me to keep the club in the Championship,” he said.
“I’ve been here a long time and know the people inside out. I know how important this club is to people, so for me relegation is unthinkable to be honest.
“It is something I put to the back of my mind. I want to help it, I want to stay up and there’s no ifs or buts. That’s what I’ll try my best to do – help the lads, and hopefully the lads are with me.
“You can’t get caught up in thoughts of what it means because then it turns to a lot of pressure and your mind can take over, rather than thinking about the positive at the end of it.
“It is the old cliche – I’m taking it one game at a time – and it's just important we get that first game out of the way, with a positive result to bring back home.
“We’ll look to get through that first round and then look at the next team after that.”
It would be easy for heads to drop given the perilous situation that ICT find themselves in, but Mckay insists there remains a good atmosphere in the changing room.
There is acknowledgement of what is at stake, but also a determination to put things right before the end of the season.
“I’ve felt the last couple of days that the boys are confident, but making sure they are ready,” Mckay added.
“I think we’ve realised the situation we’re in. We’ve got quite a lot of younger players and the older lads have made them realise how important it is to get out of it.
“We just talk about our experiences. I’ve had a few relegations myself so I know what it looks like at a club – but for the boys who have not experienced it, you need to let them know how important it is that it doesn’t happen.
“We’ve always been together. It has been a strange year because I feel we aren’t the second worst team in the league and the dressing room has never fallen apart in the way it can when you’re down there.
“I’ve not felt it coming until maybe the last couple of games when you realise it could happen, but we’re not down. We have four games to rectify the season.
“We know it hasn’t been good enough in terms of where we want to be at this club, but there are positives to take – as long as we get ourselves out of this.”
