Mark Ridgers says desire to start in Scottish Cup semi final at Hampden Park will drive Inverness Caley Thistle's players to impress
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Mark Ridgers expects standards to rise at Inverness Caledonian Thistle over the coming weeks as players vie for a starting spot at Hampden Park.
The Caley Jags secured a spot in the Scottish Cup semi finals – and a return to Scotland's national stadium – with a 2–1 win over Kilmarnock on Friday night.
They now know they will face League One outfit Falkirk on the last weekend in April, and the individual battle is now on to prove to head coach Billy Dodds that they are worthy of a starting spot.
For many, it would be the stuff of dreams to run out on to the Hampden pitch, so with seven Championship matches to play in the meantime Ridgers says everyone at Caley Thistle will be out to impress.
"Let's not kid ourselves on, there's an opportunity for us to play in a Scottish Cup semi final, so between now and then players will be at it because they will want to be on the pitch," Ridgers said.
"At our level, these opportunities don't come along often. I've been lucky enough to go there already in my first season against Hearts, but the manager has said it – some guys might never get the opportunity to play at Hampden again.
"We have the opportunity to play in a Scottish Cup semi final in a very winnable game at Hampden.
"We've got competition for places now – there are people on the bench that want to play, and people who are playing who know that if they slip up, they will come out of the team.
"No disrespect to the young boys who have come in and helped us, but there are players who are good enough to start games, who will feel like they should be playing, on the bench.
"When you've got a massive fixture like the semi final hanging over you, these guys will have to perform.
"We need points in the league to get where we want to go. We believe we can still make the play-offs, but we'll need to win games and perform well, and that's what we all have to do."
Facing old acquaintances
The Falkirk side that Inverness will be facing at the end of April will most likely feature some familiar faces.
Former ICT players Brad McKay, Coll Donaldson and Kai Kennedy are all currently plying their trade with the Bairns, and Ridgers played with all three of them.
It will be something of a strange moment for Ridgers to go up against the centre back pairing he was behind for so long, but he believes both sides will be extremely happy with how the draw panned out.
"That's the draw we wanted to have any chance of making the final, so we're delighted with it and I'm pretty sure they'll be the same," he added.
"It will be a great occasion, and there's a bit of history between the clubs – both in terms of the supporters and players.
"It will be weird, because I played with Brad and Coll for a few years as my centre back pairing. They will be looking to get a bit of revenge on the club, as everyone does when you go back to an old club, and there's wee Kai Kennedy as well who was here for a wee spell.
"If you follow Scottish football, you know they're a very good team. They are a League One team by position, but they're not really set up that way.
"With Dunfermline they're showing that they're two massive teams in that division, and they're doing what they need to do to get out of it, so it won't be an easy game.
"They're used to winning as well, but we've got a little bit of momentum going after the last three games so we need to continue that on Saturday and get a few good results in the league.
"We know ourselves that the league campaign has been quite disappointing, so the cup has kept everyone going and given us a little bit of motivation to continue to do well."
