Transfer talks didn't faze me!
ICT striker Adam Rooney in action in the 5-1 Scottish Cup win against Morton.
CALEY Thistle hitman Adam Rooney says he took the uncertainty over his future in his stride – now he's gunning for more goals.
A transfer window bid of £100,000 from top-flight Russians Kuban Krasnodar was knocked back by the Highlanders, while talks with SPL club Hibernian came to nothing.
Boss Terry Butcher is thrilled to have his star man in Inverness until at least the end of the season and Rooney told the HN he’s having a ball too much to let links elsewhere unsettle him.
He explained: “I was laid back about any speculation that came my way this season. I am enjoying my football though and that’s because the team have been doing well. It’s been great because I have been playing every week and we’ve not been down the wrong end of the table fighting relegation. That’s the big benefit for me, that’s why I am enjoying being here.
“Personally, I don’t think the speculation changed my game. The links to other clubs were in the papers, but I just got on with it. I never felt any added pressure. I don’t think we had been playing as well as we had for a while. Hopefully, we’ve come through that spell now and hopefully we can keep going now for the rest of the season.”
The Dubliner’s 26 goals last term helped fire Caley Thistle back into the SPL and he’s already helped himself to 16 since August.
The 22-year-old is determined to maintain this form.
He said: “Obviously last season was a good one for the team and for me personally. I scored a number of goals and when I started this season I felt it was important to try and get as many goals as I could early on, which is good for confidence.
“Luckily, I have managed to score a few this season, but the team have been playing well and creating chances so far. We want to build on that. I’m delighted with the number of goals I have scored so far and let’s hope that continues between now and the end of the season.”
Rooney notched a double in the weekend’s Scottish Cup 5-1 rout against First Division Morton and he said: “After playing them a few times last year, we knew it could be a difficult game, so it was important that we got off to a good start and scored the first goal and kick on from there.
“Richie Foran had a good finish for the first goal and we scored the second one before half-time and that killed the tie.
“Morton arrived here on the back of six games unbeaten, so they would have been confident. We didn’t focus too much on them though, we thought it was important to focus on what we could do.”
And the reward for ICT on March 12 or 13 is they’ll host the winners of the Celtic v Rangers replay in the quarter-finals.
Rooney said: “It’s a great one for the fans. Some people maybe wanted us to draw a lesser team, but in the cup you never know. We’ll relish the challenge and we’ll be ready for it when it comes around.”
It’s back to league business and a trip to Paisley this weekend as the Caley Jags seek their first SPL win since they beat Hibs on November 20.
The Irish forward said: “Last week’s win will have been great for our confidence. St Mirren are difficult to beat down there, but we’ll be looking to play our own way against them and I’m sure we can return to winning ways.”
