Vigurs insists Inverness can still make the great escape — but they must be a lot nastier
THE dark shadow of relegation from the Premiership is hanging heavily over Inverness Caley Thistle in the wake of their humiliating four-goal Highland derby defeat by Ross County.
But Iain Vigurs, who captained the side at the Global Energy Stadium on Friday night in the absence of suspended skipper Gary Warren, refuses to abandon all hope.
However, the midfielder admits that Inverness are looking at a play-off spot at best after under-fire manager Richie Foran warned his players that they must ‘man up’ and develop a nasty streak.
‘As the gaffer says, we have too many nice guys and you can’t have that in a relegation fight,’ said Vigurs. ‘You need nasty b ****** s on the pitch.
‘County wanted it and were up for a fight. We weren’t. You need to win the individual battles, be streetwise, win free-kicks — even con the referee, but we didn’t do that.
‘That’s the worst I’ve felt after a game. Four-nil in a derby is not good enough, especially when you are bottom of the table. It hurts.
‘You need to go out and give everything. I can’t say that any of us did that — myself included.
‘Right now, a play-off spot is what we’re aiming for and four wins is a must. But I wouldn’t still be playing if I didn’t think we can get out of this.’
Veteran goalkeeper Ryan Esson, who replaced injured Wales international Owain Fon Williams, was culpable for the opening goal.
But Vigurs was quick to defend his team-mate, insisting: ‘It wasn’t Esson’s fault at all — it was the team’s fault.
‘Anyone can make a mistake. We conceded three other goals and that just wasn’t good enough.’
While the Inverness players contemplate the devastating fall-out from relegation, their rivals from the other side of Kessock Bridge are all but safe.
But midfielder Martin Woods believes the County players owe it to their fans to produce a big finish.
He said: ‘As a team, we’ve let a lot of people down this season. I think we should be pushing for fourth spot with the players we have, so we need to finish as best we can
and sort of put things right. We need to carry the momentum of this win into our remaining four matches and cement seventh place.
‘When we play the right way, we feel we should be pushing a lot higher up the table.’
Northern Ireland international Liam Boyce again stole the show by scoring all four goals to take his tally for the season to 21. But Woods fears that Boyce’s latest goal burst could hasten his departure, despite the striker having a year left on his contract.
‘We might struggle to keep him,’ admitted Woods. ‘Everybody has to be looking at him after the goals he’s scored the last couple of years.
‘It’s not just his goals, it’s the way he brings people into play. Liam is an all-round player and, for me, he’s right up there with the best. He’s been superb all season and I’m delighted for him.
‘He got the wrong advice with his injury last season and ended up missing a few games.
“We all know how well he was doing at that stage and we missed him because he’s been brilliant for us.’