Inverness Caley Thistle in a 'dog fight' for Championship race – but George Oakley confident things will turn around
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George Oakley says Caley Thistle know they are in a fight to remain in promotion contention, but insists nobody will be shying away from the challenge at hand.
Defeat to Dundee last Saturday leaves Inverness six points off the play-offs, and nine behind current league leaders Ayr United.
After coming so close to promotion last season, expectations had been that the Caley Jags would be right up there again this season.
Oakley, then, says ICT will do everything they can to get back to the top.
"The league will change, all you have to do is win two or three games and you'll be very close," he stressed.
"It's not like there's one team absolutely flying in there – it's a dog fight, and we're up for it.
"I don't think any of us are even thinking about where we are in the table right now.
"We know that we're where we should be, so it's not like we're looking at the table and thinking 'oh no' and panicking.
"We've made it a little bit harder for ourselves, abut we still know we're going to be up there at the end of the year.
"We've got confidence in ourselves, and I know that because this is one of the best changing rooms I've been in. Everyone is all for each other, so we're all working together to do the best we can."
After reaching six games without a win in the Championship, one thing is for sure according to Oakley – it is not for a lack of effort.
"We put 110 per cent into the game, and the other team get one chance and score the goal," he said.
"We're coming off the pitch knackered because we're giving it everything – that's probably why it's so hard to take at the moment.
"I'm struggling to understand why it's not going our way, but this is football and sometimes it's the best game in the world, and sometimes it's the worst.
"We talk all the time, and it's a hard one to take. Lately it's been hard to filter and take in, but we're all together – it's not like people are washing their hands of it and saying 'what can we do', we are all talking and trying to sort things out.
"We are willing it to happen and putting our bodies on the line, so it will fall for us eventually."
