Norwich City loan star looks to improve at Inverness Caledonian Thistle
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REECE McAlear believes coming on loan to Inverness Caledonian Thistle will benefit him as a player short term and his football career long term.
The 19-year-old midfielder has arrived on a season long loan deal from English Premiership club Norwich City and has been in the starting line-up for Inverness during the Premier Sports Cup group stage campaign.
The Motherwell native left his home town club to sign for Norwich in 2019 and has also represented Scotland at under-18 level.
But he is searching for senior first team football and is looking forward to getting experience of that under head coach Billy Dodds.
“I was playing at Norwich and it was good, but I need to play as many minutes as possible and get my chance and get used to the style Inverness play,” he said.
“I want to keep going and play every game.
“Norwich were very open, but they want the best for me and playing senior football will help me in the short term and the long term.”
McAlear is one of a number of signings to have arrived at Inverness this summer.
Former Ross County duo Michael Gardyne and Billy McKay along with defender Kirk Broadfoot from Kilmarnock are among the group of players that have joined the club.
McAlear says there is a good mix of youth and experience in the team and from what he has seen so far, believes the squad is good enough to challenge for promotion this season.
“I want to help the club push for promotion and get back into the top flight and get as much minutes as I can so I can improve and learn,” said McAlear.
“We’ve signed a lot of good experienced players and it is a close group.”
He added: “We saw that against a top team like Hearts on Sunday. But the league starts on Saturday and hopefully we can come away with a win against Arbroath.”
Caley Thistle exited the Premier Sports Cup group stages after playing their final match in a 1–0 defeat against Hearts on Sunday.
But the club were already eliminated before kick-off as they could not finish higher than third with Stirling Albion claiming second spot.
McAlear admitted it was disappointing to be knocked out in the group stages.
But he says it is vital they put that disappointment behind them and concentrate on a winning start against Arbroath at Gayfield on Saturday.
Speaking about the defeat to Hearts, McAlear said: “It was a hard game against good opposition, but we knew that coming into the game. We just tried to stay compact, keep our shape and hit them on the counter. But we had some good chances but never took them.
“I am happy with my own personal performance, but we just wanted to get a win as a group, but it didn’t happen.
“We need to rest up and go again because the league starts and we need a positive mindset.”
