Midfielder looks to help save Inverness Caledonian Thistle from relegation in comeback from injury against Queen’s Park at Hampden
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LUIS Longstaff says he is determined to make an impact coming back from injury to help Inverness Caledonian Thistle stay in the Championship.
The midfielder could be in a position to return to action for Inverness in Saturday’s clash against Queen’s Park.
Impressive at times when on the pitch, Longstaff has suffered with injury this campaign but is hopeful to make a comeback on Saturday.
He says he is determined to make a contribution in some form to help Inverness avoid a relegation play-off after the end of the regular season.
He said: “I’ve had quite a few weeks out so I’ve got that eagerness to get back playing and try to help, and impact, the team as much as possible.
“Whether that is from the bench or by starting matches, I just want to help us push through the last few games.
“If we perform the way we know we can, we don’t need to rely on anyone else.”
Speaking about his recovery from injury, he said: ““It was difficult, but it could have been a lot worse
“I’m lucky it was only eight weeks, rather than a lot longer.
“In rehab, it was about getting back as quickly as possible and I feel in a good place now to help the team as much as possible going into the last four or five games.
“Sometimes, I can offer something different just to spark something. It is what any team needs - like Alex Samuel’s little bit of magic last week.
“There are a lot of players in the team capable of doing that.
“Hopefully, we can produce in the last games of the season.”
Inverness are one point behind Queen’s Park and go into the match beating Arbroath 2-1 last week which has almost certainly relegated the Red Lichties.
It was only Caley Thistle’s third league win at the Caledonian Stadium all season.
Longstaff says they want to use the feel good factor of Saturday’s result as they head to Hampden.
“It has done a lot to the confidence for the group.
“We went into it as a must-win game, as we could envisage other teams picking up results.
“If we wanted to stay in touch with everyone, we had to win last weekend.
“Now, looking at the table, it puts us in a much better position going into the Queen’s Park game.
“If we win, it is in our hands.
“It is probably as simple and straightforward as it can be. It just feels better as a team not to be relying on anyone else to drop points.
“We know, as a group, if we do our job we’ll be fine.”
