Defender speaks about impact of administration talk on players at Caley Thistle
DANNY Devine says players at Inverness Caledonian Thistle are determined to remain focused and block out talk of potential administration at the club.
The defender spoke about the impact of the financial struggles facing the club is having on the squad as they prepare to head to Arbroath on Saturday.
In addition, the club say they need to raise between £1.4 million and £1.6 million to ensure they can last until the end of the season.
Devine said it is hard to ignore the financial situation at the club, but they say the players are determined to try and find positive results on the pitch.
He said: “We’re all still extremely focused.
“With the outside noise, social media and the like these days, it is hard to ignore it and not see it.
“We have a young squad and a lot of boys that just want to play football - and I’m the same.
“We just concentrate on our job on the pitch. Everything else is out of our control. We’ll just let the people who know what they’re doing take care of that.
“Hopefully we can just start winning some games.”
“It doesn’t weigh on me on the pitch so much. When you’re in a game, you’re focused - nothing else matters.
“Away from games it can be frustrating. Everyone has bills to pay at the end of the day.
“It is just trying your best to block it out, keep the head down and work hard.
Devine said interim chief executive officer Charlie Christie has spoken to the squad and has informed them about the situation at the club.
He says players have appreciated being kept informed about the situation by management.
“He just gave the boys a bit of an insight on how things were going and what is happening.
“The boys know where they stand, with a little bit of information, not a lot.
“But the message from the gaffer and Charlie is we can only concentrate on the onfield stuff and take care of our job and pick up some wins.
“It does help to keep the players and the staff in the loop a wee bit, maybe calm things while it is working itself out.”
Inverness Caledonian Thistle head to Arbroath on Saturday looking for only their second league win of the season. They are in sixth place in League One, with six draws in their first eight matches.
They are five points behind league leaders Queen of the South, the only team Inverness Caledonian Thistle have beaten this season.
Devine knows how important it is for them to start turning draws into wins.
He said: “It’s obviously been a struggle for us this year, getting wins over the line.
“A lot of our football has been really good, a lot of our control within the game.
“It is about turning that control into results and three points on the day.
“Draws are good, but wins are very valuable - and we need to start getting more of them.“It is about being ruthless in the final third.That’s not just strikers, it’s us as defenders at set pieces and things like that.
“We need to help the forward boys out. It is just about turning our chances into some goals. It has been frustrating. Draws are okay, but once they start oiling up, it’s frustrating. Wins are massive.”
