Inverness Caley Thistle captain Danny Devine hopes to remain in Highland capital next season to help football club push for promotion in League One
Inverness Caledonian Thistle captain Danny Devine says he believes there will be a keenness among the playing squad to stick around for next season and challenge for the League One title.
The vast majority of the Caley Jags squad are due to see their contracts expire this summer, but head coach Scott Kellacher believes that the club does not have to wait until they have officially exited administration to offer deals to their current players.
That means there could potentially be movement on new deals quickly in the aftermath of Saturday’s League One closer away at Montrose.
Devine, already in his second spell in the Highland capital, says he loves playing for Caley Thistle and is anticipating being part of the club’s promotion charge next season.
“Speaking to the boys, practically everyone is out of contract, but I don’t think anyone has a bad word to say about their time at the club,” Devine said.
“I think that’s pretty telling given the circumstances, and how the atmosphere has been at times on and off the pitch. Hopefully the boys want to stick around, but that’s up to them.
“They have briefly spoken to a few of us already, so hopefully the more that stays the better. I’m sure the boys won’t be short of offers, but for me personally I love it here.
“Regardless of who is here, we are a club that wants to win the league, push on and improve. What we’ve done is great, it’s incredible, but we need to keep pushing and move past this to take the club even further on.
“We don’t want to be in League One. We want to be pushing and challenging for promotion back to the Premiership, but that is a long way away from where we are right now, so we just have to take one step at a time.
“We have to go away and enjoy our break, which we haven’t really had for three years, and then we’ll see what the club comes up with in terms of where they want to go next season.
“Make no mistake, next season we’ll be pushing for promotion and pushing to win the league, and constantly trying to win the league.”
On paper, if Caley Thistle are able to keep hold of the bulk of their playing squad, given how young they have been this season they should only be stronger with another year’s experience under their belts.
Although in a predicament that no footballer would choose to be in, the fact that ICT’s players have come through such trying circumstances means that Devine believes they will be better off for the experience going forward.
“I don’t think anyone should lose sight of how impressive this is what the boys have done,” Devine explained.
“The mentality has been absolutely outstanding. When you start looking at other teams like Arbroath and Queen of the South, they are full of experienced players who have played at a high level for a number of years.
“We’ve maybe got a handful of boys who have played three full senior seasons. Boys like Remi Savage are probably seen as one of our older guys, but this is only his second season in full-time men’s football.
“That just shows how inexperienced we are, which again is credit to the mentality of every single player in the dressing room to get us over the line.
“I think everyone knows how bad it would have been for the club if things didn’t go our way, so I don’t think it can be underestimated what the players have done.
“Even for guys like myself and Billy Mckay, it’s something different and we are constantly learning. For these boys to learn that at such a young age, and have the pressure of knowing what a bad result could mean every single week, will only stand them in good stead in their careers.
“A lot of players won’t experience the pressure that they have felt, so 100 per cent it will only help them.”
