Tansey urges ICT to deal in Ofere
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CALEY Thistle will need Edward Ofere’s goals next season and need to keep him on, according to Greg Tansey.
Ofere’s sixth goal in 11 games for the Caley Jags booked their place in Europe on Saturday and Tansey hopes the striker’s short-term deal can be extended beyond the end of the season.
Signed alongside Tarmo Kink, Ofere was brought in to help replace the goals lost when Billy Mckay, so often Inverness’ main goal-getter, left for Wigan in January. Since leaving Norwegian side Sogndal, Ofere has helped Caley Thistle secure third place in the league and a spot in their first Scottish Cup final.
Tansey says the Nigerian forward has settled in well to the dressing room and needs to be kept on for the 2015-16 campaign.
“He’s been brilliant for us. His goals sum up everything. We’re hoping he stays because he’s a goalscorer and they don’t come around very often,” said Tansey.
“Edward’s made a big difference for us and we’re going to need him to be banging in the goals next season. He makes that difference most weeks and as a striker with an eye for a goal, you can’t put a price on him.”
His goal against Dundee means the Caley Jags can no longer be caught in third place, putting a gap of nine points between themselves and the pair of Dundee United and St Johnstone. For the first time in their 21-year history, Caley Thistle will be preparing to enter European competition when they return for pre-season.
Dates for players to return over the summer will not be confirmed until Inverness know when they will begin the competition. Third place in the league means they will enter at the first qualifying stage alongside Aberdeen on 2nd July, however, a Scottish Cup win will see them come in at the second qualifying stage on 16th July.
Before the Caley Jags can enter the competition, a mandatory UEFA inspection will take place at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium to make sure it meets the governing body’s Category 2 criteria, required for entrance into the first and second qualifying rounds of the Europa League.
The first qualifying round wields potential for ties against sides like Rosenborg from Norway, Rijeka (Croatia) and AIK (Sweden), while a further entrant from England will enter as a result of securing a UEFA Fair Play berth, which at the moment is West Ham United.
Poland’s Legia Warsaw are the only side to have qualified for the second qualifying round to date and will be joined by the fourth-placed sides from Belgium, Turkey, Greece, Switzerland, Austria and the Czech Republic. Cup winners from Cyprus, Denmark, Croatia and Belarus will also enter.
“I don’t think the travelling will bother us. We’re up and down the A9 for three hours every other weekend, so I’d actually prefer to get a plane,” said Tansey.
“We have played difficult teams in pre-season. We went down to Birmingham and more than held our own and did the same against Celtic. The closer we get to the competition we’ll start setting targets but we’re not happy just to be there for a holiday. We want to progress.”
A couple of extra weeks’ holiday await the players if they win the Scottish Cup on 30th May, with Tansey expecting the players to come back in mid-June if they fail to beat Falkirk.
Not that they should need any, but extra motivation will come from the potential of an extended break, said the former Stevenage midfielder.
“I would love an extra couple of weeks off, who wouldn’t? We don’t need any added motivation other than the prize of the Scottish Cup, but if we did then the extra time off would definitely be it,” he said.
“It’s going to be another long season and that’s something we’ll need to address. We’re under no illusions about Falkirk either, we know they’ll come at us with everything.”
All summer plans are currently on hold for Tansey, who will be waiting until the last minute before organising his holidays.
“I may as well just turn up to the airport on the 1st June with my passport and see where I can go!” he said.
“I’ve got a few mates who are going off to Mexico in June so I may just jump on that with them.”
