THE long road back on the team bus to Inverness from Hamilton on Tuesday night may just have rivalled the away end at the Superseal Stadium earlier in the evening for lack of atmosphere.
That’s not to criticise the hardy band of hardcore fans that followed their side to Hamilton only to witness a performance that was wholly undeserving of their time, money and dedication.
Indeed, they were the only ones who displayed commitment to the Inverness cause on the night, and manager Richie Foran left his supine players in no doubt that they had crossed a line with him in terms of their lack of application and desire to fight for the jersey.
For Gary Warren, team captain and for so long a rugged competitor at the heart of the Inverness defence, it was hard to hear.
Judging by his demeanour afterwards, perhaps only the cautions that ruled him out of both the 2014 League Cup final and the 2015 Scottish Cup final rivalled this moment as a personal low at the club.
And make no mistake, the club are a long way from those heady heights right now, after the embarrassing capitulation in Lanarkshire left them three points adrift at the bottom of the table.
“You lack confidence when you are down at the bottom of the table, but it’s up to individuals to get out of that,” Warren said. “The only way to get out of it is to work hard, knuckle down and try and be as brave as you can.
“Players have to start standing up and be counted. There are too many boys at the moment who are letting each other down. “ I think we were weak [against Hamilton]. When you go to a place like that you have to stand up and be strong and physical.
“We needed to have the balls to get on the ball and to try and play and we didn’t do that.
“There’s no hiding place, but at the end of the day there is still four months left of the season so there’s plenty of time left. We have to stand up now and be strong.
“The more experienced boys like myself have to try and pull the rest of the boys through. We have to stand up and help out as much as we can. We have enough quality in that dressing room to not be where we are and we should be higher than that. We’re not showing it and we are not getting the best out of each other.”
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