Draper hails return of a team ‘others hate to play’
ROSS DRAPER last night insisted Inverness Caley Thistle are turning back into the team everyone loves to hate and are ready to give Rangers hell under the Friday night lights.
Manager Richie Foran hailed his side’s battling 1-1 draw at Tynecastle as a return to ‘the old fighting Inverness’, with Draper determined to make sure the Premiership’s bottom club build on the performance when Rangers travel up the A9 at the end of the week.
‘That has to be the benchmark now,’ he said. ‘There is no point taking a point off Hearts and then not doing it week in, week out.
‘We’ve built our success on teams hating to play against us and we need to get back to that. If we do, we’ll get out of it.
‘Ask anyone. Teams hate playing Inverness and even going up there with the drive, the overnight stay and the wind. We need to use all that. We need the bit of grit and bite we’ve been missing.
‘It’s an opportunity on Friday to get off the bottom. We’ve done well twice against (Rangers), losing narrowly both times. But they’re on a similar level to Hearts and Aberdeen, so we can take confidence from this.’
Foran has now challenged his players, currently two points behind Hamilton, to beat Rangers and get themselves off the foot of the Premiership.
‘All season, we’ve looked good going forward and a goal threat, but we were lazy going back,’ he said.
‘What a battling performance, though. We frustrated them at times, which we wanted to do, and we looked good on the counter.
‘It’s great foundations going into Friday and a valuable point. We love our evening games. It’s a home tie and we can get off the bottom of the table.’
Foran questioned his players’ bottle following a recent 3-0 loss at Hamilton, but Draper insists there was never any danger of the dressing room turning against him despite such a public savaging.
‘I don’t mind it,’ said Draper. ‘It’s not personal. We took it on the chin and he gave us the kick up the a*** we needed.’