Dons' red-hot displays don’t frighten Devine
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DEFENDER Danny Devine insists Caley Thistle are far from frightened about playing against red-hot leaders Aberdeen on Saturday.
The Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership front-runners, who lost 2-0 to Hibs in the Scottish League Cup last night (Wednesday), arrive in Inverness this weekend having won all eight games so far and with a five-point lead over champions Celtic.
With ICT being been hit badly from day one with injuries and having lost players such as Graeme Shinnie (to Aberdeen) and Marley Watkins (to Barnsley), they have only won once this season, in the 2-0 win against Hearts earlier this month.
However, the 23-year-old Northern Ireland-born stopper, who scored in the 2-0 Scottish League Cup win at Livingston on Tuesday, insists the contrasting form won’t mean a thing when they go head on this Saturday.
He told the HN: "I think any team will tell you that coming to Inverness is never easy, no matter how we are playing.
"Aberdeen are clearly on a really good run of form and looking strong but they will have their weaknesses too.
"On our day, we can beat anyone in this league. It’s another exciting game to look forward to and we will be looking to get the win.
"Every time we play Aberdeen it’s nip and tuck, so the game is on our back yard and we will be up for it, there’s no doubt about that.
"Aberdeen have won all their games so far in the league but that won’t faze us at all. We take every opponent just as serious as the last one."
The centre half has been ever-present in the league this season and he’s been lifted by Josh Meekings returning from injury to partner him in the past fortnight, allowing Ross Draper to return to his more familiar central midfield berth.
Devine explained: "It’s never easy when you have players playing out of position, so it’s been good over the past two weeks to get back to a more familiar back four and have other lads going into their favoured positions.
"Having Josh alongside me is great and it’s a real boost for the team to have a natural back four. We are now looking to really push on and get as much game time together as we can."
The former Preston North End player, who joined Caley Thistle in 2013, admits the side must find consistency soon but he does see signs of improvement.
He said: "Our form is not quite there yet. All the boys feel as if there’s still a lot of room for improvement. We have gradually got better as the weeks have gone by and hopefully after each game that will continue and it will click sooner rather than later.
"With (on-loan Swindon Town striker) Miles Storey coming in, the forward players have also got an understanding going. He’s really settled in quickly. With his pace, he’s a real threat up front as he gets in behind defenders, so we are all looking forward to playing more with him."
