Inverness Caley Thistle Scottish Cup winner Danny Devine describes how the squad used the negative reaction to the SPFL’s 15-point administration penalty as inspiration for a revival
Danny Devine has told how Caley Thistle’s young squad united around being written off after a 15-point deduction sent them crashing to the bottom of League One.
The Irishman and his team-mates used dismissive comments in the aftermath of the administration punishment to inspire them to a remarkable revival of fortunes.
With seven games remaining, Caley Thistle host fourth top Alloa today knowing that victory would amount to another big stride towards safety.
Without the 15-point penalty, it would be the Highlanders currently occupying the fourth-place spot, not Alloa, but that berth remains achievable.
All talk of the play-offs is banned within the walls of the Caledonian Stadium, but a win would lift them to within five or six points of the play-offs depending on Queen of the South’s result.
Devine is proud of the way a squad mainly packed with teenagers and players in their early 20s has reacted to adversity.
After anther rollercoaster week that started with talk of liquidation and ended in hope of escaping administration, the Caley Jags Scottish Cup winner and captain said: “The off-field issues are always in the back of your mind and do spur you on in a weird way.
"When we went into administration, and things were not great off the park, people wrote us off.
"People said they couldn't see us coming through it after getting the 15-point deduction, but I think it gave all the boys a point to prove.
"It has galvanised us in the changing room. We want to prove people wrong. We want to do what we can on the park to make things better.
"If we can send our fans home happy, we're doing our part. Hopefully everything will sort itself out now, off the park.”
Manager Scott Kellacher and his staff have worked to shield the young squad from the potentially disastrous financial issues facing the club.
But as one of few senior and seasoned members, Devine has absorbed a lot of the twists and turns of administration.
He stressed: “I’ve tried to keep myself away from it as much as I could.
"It's hard to do that now, with social media, but I've seen that things might be improving and going in the right direction, which is brilliant news for me, the team, the fans and everyone involved with the club.
"Fingers crossed things continue to move in the right direction.
“We can continue to fight and do our bit on the pitch, and hopefully everything will come together.
"Weirdly enough, I have great belief that this club will sort itself out.
"I don't know why - it's just a feeling I've got.
"Maybe because we've such a young squad, the younger lads don't pick up on it as much as more experienced players like me.
"It's a great club and I've spent the majority of my career here. I know what it's about and the people among it, and the people in the city.
“I have always had a strange feeling that things will work themselves out.
"We're still a bit away from that, but from the news after Wednesday's meeting, I think we might be moving in the right direction.”
Caley Thistle battered Annan Athletic at home without reward last weekend after going down to an early goal.
Devine admits it was one of the most extraordinary 90 minutes of his career.
He added: “I don't think I've ever felt the way I did after a game like I did last Saturday.
“I was absolutely gutted and I could not believe we lost.
"We lost, but we didn't play badly.
“Some of the football we played was very good, and it was attack against defence for most of the game. We just couldn't score.
"I don't think we need to change too much going into Saturday's game against Alloa.
“We will take any positives we can from it and move forward. We just need to take our chances, like we did in the 4-1 win against Stenhousemuir.
"The boys are still confident.
"Last week was a big wake-up call. We know what football is about. Things can change in an instant.
"We dominated the game, yet lost, so there was real frustration for me afterwards.
"It took me a day or two to get over it.
“Usually, I'm quite good at moving on from these things, but this is a new week and a new game and that's what we're focused on.”