Caley Thistle priced out of return move for Billy Mckay
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JOHN Hughes revealed yesterday that Caley Thistle were priced out of a move for former favourite Billy Mckay.
When the club became aware that Mckay could be available, enquiries were made with Wigan but the financial package it would cost to bring the striker back to the club was out of their range.
Mckay was yesterday the subject of a tug-of-war between Dundee United and Hibernian, with both clubs making a move for the striker as the Inverness Courier went to press. The 26-year-old left Inverness for Wigan in January for a fee in the region of £150,000, after netting 61 goals in 141 games for Caley Thistle.
However, his game time this season has been limited to 13 minutes for the Latics, managed by former Celtic defender Gary Caldwell, and he made just one start as the club failed to avoid relegation from the English Championship last season.
Moves were made to see if a return to the Highlands would be possible for Mckay but the finances proved restrictive.
"All credit to Dundee United if they can lure him because we had a sniff at it as well and it’s way out of our range. They must be paying some money for him," said Hughes, who also had a loan bid for an unnamed striker scuppered when the player refused a move to Inverness yesterday. "I’m not knocking that if it comes within their budget.
"I would have loved to bring in Billy Mckay and if he goes to Dundee United, I wish him all the best."
The pursuit of new additions continues, exacerbated by the knee injury suffered by Aaron Doran that looks to keep the talented winger out for much of season. Doran will now face the possibility of having played his last game for Caley Thistle, with his contract up next summer, having featured in Caley Thistle’s Europa League ties against FC Astra.
Hughes has been handed a boost, however, with the news that Josh Meekings expects to be back for the Hearts game in a fortnight to help ease Caley Thistle’s injury crisis.
First-choice centre-back Gary Warren is out with a broken leg for the next few months and Meekings has not played since the opening day against Motherwell. Danny Devine and Ross Draper have filled in at the back but Meekings, who will resume training next week, is eager to make up for lost time.
"I should be fighting for a place for the Hearts game. I won’t be ready for this weekend but I’ve got the international break to work on my fitness and strength," he said.
"I’ve had the problem since pre-season — I did it against Clach. I played 70 minutes with it and just didn’t feel right. I continued to play with it and just couldn’t shake it off. Unfortunately I had to pull out and say ‘look, I can’t do it anymore’ and let it recover. It’s getting stronger now and I feel like it’s nearly there.
"It was a big thing for me mentally to play in Europe. I wanted to give everything I could for the team, especially after the efforts that were put in last season. I wanted to be a part of it. We were unfortunate in the games but for myself, I wasn’t able to give what I should have. "Perhaps it did make it worse, I’m not too sure. It was one of them where I had to stop to make it better."
The watching brief is not one that sits comfortably with the former Ipswich Town defender, who missed only the Celtic game at the end of last season after John Hughes decided to rest him for the Scottish Cup final.
Meekings will only be able to watch on tomorrow when Inverness travel to Dens Park to face Dundee. They will come up against former team-mate Nick Ross for the first time, someone who Meekings has a lot of time for.
"I sat next to him in the dressing room for the last four years and got on quite well with him. He’s quite quiet, works hard and does his business. But he’s a funny lad and will have a laugh and a joke," said Meekings.
"He worked hard and you wouldn’t ever get a bad word out of him. I don’t think anyone would ever say a bad word about him because he’s a good guy. He’s done very well down there and I’m sure he’s settled in well with the Dundee lads."
