Foran still has the fire in his belly to push survival bid all the way . . .

ICHIE FORAN rubs his hands with unbridled enthusiasm and says he’s ready to rock and roll when asked if our chat can begin. It was nice to see. This is the Foran I’ve known for many years. Someone with a love for life, football and, especially, talking at a mile a minute in an accent that remains utterly Dublin. Always with a smile, never a frown. Football management, however, can take its toll on even the most positive.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the club 36-year-old Foran captained and then became manager of last May, are bottom of the Ladbrokes Premiership having won only three of their 25 league games. It’s a position they have occupied for most of the season.

Tonight they entertain Rangers. A win would take them above Hamilton, for a day at least, but even victory on the back of an excellent point at Tynecastle would still mean relegation being a real possibility for the Highland capital’s team.

This was always going to be a test for the rookie Foran. It seemed to have got to him a few months back when, in a television interview, he looked beaten as he admitted to feeling he was letting “everyone” down.

He might not agree but, from the outside looking in, he’s seemed more like himself in recent weeks. He does feel the team has improved, that a run of wins is peaking around a corner and is absolutely adamant he is the right man to steer his club – and that’s what it is – to calmer waters.

“I would not have taken any other job,” Foran says when looking back on the surprise offer to replace John Hughes. “I knew what was in the dressing room and in the boardroom. This is a great job. It really is.

“Saturdays can be frustrating and I do take it to heart. My kids were born in Inverness, my wife is from Inverness. This is a special place for me and it’s a special football club, so I take it personally.

“It’s all on me. In society we all look to blame someone else when something negative happens. I would describe it as this: your wife will make a cup of tea, you will carry it from the kitchen to the living room, spill it, and blame your wife because she maybe put too much in the cup. You won’t blame yourself.

“Maurice Malpas said something years ago and it stuck with me. We were beaten in a game and he said, ‘Go look at yourself in the mirror. Strikers don’t blame the midfield, midfielders don’t blame the defence. Look at yourself’.

“I’ve never forgotten that. Too many people in life and football look to blame someone else and make excuses. I’d like to think I’m not one of those.