Striker says Inverness Caley Thistle can't allow form to get stuck in middle again
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AUSTIN Samuels says Inverness Caledonian Thistle can’t afford to suffer another mid-season collapse to have any chance of being promoted to the Premiership next season.
The forward highlights a loss of form midway through the last two campaigns as giving Inverness too much to do to win the Championship or the play-offs.
He says Inverness have to learn consistency as well as player fitness will be key to maintain good form throughout the campaign and to give them the chance of winning the title and reaching the Premiership.
Last season, Inverness went on a run of eight games without a win between October and January amid a horrendous injury crisis.
Inverness did improve their form and only missed out on a play-off with a 2-1 defeat to Ayr United on the final day of the regular season.
Samuels (22) says having points in the bank early in the campaign is key to success and is determined the club are not in a position again to leave things too late.
“Mid season is always the crucial time for every season,” he said.
“If you lose games towards the end of the season, a good mid-season run can keep us up the table.
“That has cost us the last two seasons, where we had bad form during mid-season runs.
“Then we went on a good run towards the end of the regular season but fell short both times. Everyone staying fit is a main thing too, because last season was crazy for us.”
Samuels arrived at Inverness in January last year and has signed a new contract during the summer to remain at the Caledonian Stadium.
He says he was pleased to remain at Inverness and is determined to help fire them to the Premiership, where he has previously played with Aberdeen.
He says beating Livingston and Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup last season as well as facing Celtic in the final has given everyone a taste what success could bring them this season.
Speaking about signing a new deal, he said: “I get on well with the boys, the gaffer and the fans and I am happy to be staying.
“I played in the Premiership for Aberdeen and that cup final against Celtic was a good experience, both fans created an atmosphere which brought things to a new high for us.”
Inverness Caledonian Thistle return to League Cup group stage action on Tuesday when they face Airdrieonians at the Caledonian Stadium.
After losing 2-1 at Dumbarton on Tuesday night, Samuels says they must win their final two group matches to have any chance of qualification to the last 16.
“We need to win on Tuesday and at Dundee which we are capable of doing,” said Samuels.
“The pressure is on and we have to be confident doing that.
“Against Dumbarton, the chances we didn’t take and the goals we conceded wasn’t good enough.”
