Inverness Caley Thistle’s Stornoway midfielder Adam Mackinnon hoping to go on cup run to compliment progress in League One
Adam Mackinnon admits he would love to go on a run in the SPFL Trust Trophy, but believes good things are coming for Inverness Caledonian Thistle regardless of their fate in the competition.
The Caley Jags secured their spot in the last-16 of this year’s tournament with a 3-0 victory over Stirling Albion on Saturday, with Mackinnon impressing throughout the game.
Originally from Stornoway, the 21-year-old set up Adam Brooks to open the scoring in the first half, before rounding off the win with ICT’s third around the hour mark.
With the fourth round draw due to be made on Tuesday afternoon, Inverness will be keeping a keen eye on who their next opponents will be, and Mackinnon is keen to go far in the hunt for silverware this season.
“I’ve never really won anything in my career, so to say you’ve won a cup would be amazing,” he reasoned.
“Just now, we would like to be further up in the league so maybe that is our main priority, but we’re also into the next round of the cup. Who knows how far we can go?
“We need to be consistent, and getting that winning mentality is something the experienced boys have spoken about.
“Thankfully we have managed to get a second win in-a-row now. We started off the season with not the best results, but now we’ve kicked on.
“We need to test ourselves to raise that level a bit more, and hopefully we can carry on getting wins and climbing that league table.
“It’s close just now, and we’re into the next round of the cup too, so happy days.”
On a personal note, it was Mackinnon’s second goal of the season, and his assist against Stirling came from a well-trodden path of defence-splitting passes into the path of Brooks.
Coming from an unusual starting position on the left side of midfield, Mackinnon feels that Caley Thistle’s attacking play was a sign that things are starting to click in the final third for both him personally and the squad as a whole.
“I’ve been looking to add goals and assists to my game, so I’m happy with that,” Mackinnon said.
“Being on the left wasn’t as big of an adjustment as I thought it would be, because I wasn’t playing out wide that much.
“It’s a good group of boys, and the way we play really does suit me when I can get into those pockets.
“Hopefully that can happen a lot more going forward and I can keep assisting whoever it is putting the ball in the net.
“One of the things we were really lacking in those first few games was that quality in the final third, and it is slowly getting better but I think we can still do better and create more chances.
“There’s still a bit more to come from this team. We have to want more from everyone no matter what the situation is, but I think there’s a lot of talent and quality there in the final third especially.
“If we can raise that level a wee bit more then I do think there is quite a bit to come.”