Young goalkeeper Cammy Mackay targets more Caley Thistle starts
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CAMMY Mackay is not content with making his first start and wants to keep his place in the Caley Thistle side.
With a groin injury sidelining Ryan Esson and Owain Fon Williams rushed back two days before his extended leave was up, Mackay was given the nod for Saturday’s 1-1 Betfred Cup draw with Dundee United.
A composed display from the 20-year-old earned plaudits from manager Richie Foran – Mackay is grateful for the faith shown in him – and he hopes he has done enough to keep the jersey for tonight’s game at Dunfermline.
Mackay only had brief tastes of first-team football prior to Saturday, both of them coming as substitutes.
He came on the weekend previous against Cowdenbeath when Esson picked up his injury, a full year after his last game where he played the last 20 minutes against Celtic when Esson was rested ahead of the Scottish Cup final.
Unfortunately for him and the Caley Jags, he could not be the hero against United as they nicked a bonus point, winning the penalty shootout 4-1, but it has not dimmed Mackay’s interest in having a run in the side.
“I feel I’ve done as best I could so I would like to keep my run in goals. We’ll have to see what the manager says,” he said.
“He has a lot of faith in me to stick me in, because he could have brought Owain back a couple of days early to play. He’s shown faith in me and I thank him for that.
“Getting confidence is vital. The difference between playing under-20s and with the first-team is that the boys here don’t think twice about saying what they think. If they want you to come for the ball, they’ll tell you.
“Anything they say you have to take on board, especially as a young keeper because they’ve played enough games to know what they’re talking about.
“The boys at the back are brilliant – Kevin (McNaughton and Gary (Warren) at the back were very helpful. I take my hat off to all the players, because they were great throughout the game.”
The former Culloden Academy pupil delivered a composed display between the posts, belying his inexperience and giving great testament to the work done with him by player-coach Esson.
He had little chance with Stewart Murdoch’s equaliser and was unable to rescue his side when spot-kicks came around.
It is a very different story than what it could have been for Mackay, who could well have found himself the odd man out if Inverness had chosen to retain Dean Brill.
However, with the latter’s departure to Motherwell and Mackay too old to play in the Development League, he was promoted to the first-team squad, to compete with Esson and Fon Williams.
“I saw Owain coming in, a Welsh international goalkeeper, and Ryan, who’s played so many games over his career, and saw it as a challenge to keep pushing them all the way,” said Mackay.
“I got a bit lucky with Owain being given time off and I feel like I did the best I could.
“When you’ve got two first-team professionals (Brill and Fon Williams) then there’s always talk that you might not get kept on.
“We looked at going out on loan and we still might look into that, depending how Ryan is. He should be OK, so I’ll see what I can get and kick on.”
Foran singled Mackay out as his man of the match against the Arabs, citing his distribution and composure as positive factors.
He will have a decision to make for the trip to East End Park tonight, whether to stick with Mackay or recall Fon Williams to the team.
ICT are third-placed ahead of tonight’s trip to East End Park and defeat would leave their chances of going through to next month’s second round hanging by a thread ahead of their last game at home to Arbroath on Saturday, 24 hours before Dunfermline and Dundee United meet at Tannadice.
Victory, however, would give them a strong chance of at least being one of the four best runners-up to qualify.
Foran is taking the sting out of the importance of the game to spark an improved performance – and result – against the Pars.
“Football is not about massive pressure and I am trying to get that across to the players. I am giving them freedom to relax them, so they can put on a performance of a lifetime in every game they play in,” he said.
“I want to get their confidence up to the highest level as we can. Football is about how we are mentally. We are working on that as well, getting them into the right frame of mind in every training session and every game.
“We also have to be clever in games and not be caught on the counter attack.
Apart from deciding which goalkeeper to select, Foran will be without the services of Aaron Doran and Josh Meekings as they progress towards full fitness.
