Inverness striker Richie Foran maintains no-one at the club should be too hard on themselves if they fail to make the top six of the Clydesdale Bank Premier League.
Caley Thistle dropped out of the top half of the table in midweek following a long stay, after winning just one SPL game out of 13. A 2-0 defeat by Dundee United, which came after an identical scoreline against Hibernian, prompted manager Terry Butcher to question his players' desire to make the top six.
Foran is determined to bounce back from the defeats when Motherwell visit the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on Saturday but he believes expectations for their first season back in the top flight have risen too high in some quarters. "I know a lot of people talk about the top six but the main thing for me is keeping away from the bottom," the Irishman said.
"We have done that, we are 18 points away so that's a great achievement in itself. We have done well.
"Yes, we can make it a great season by getting into the top six but it's still going to be a very good season and we can work on that for next season. We don't want to get too downbeat.
"People get too carried away with publicity but we have just come into the SPL after being relegated. We will do as well as we can and build on that for next season. It would be a remarkable achievement and I suppose it's in our hands but we have got to start doing our talking on the pitch."
Although Foran warned about getting too down, he admitted he was low following a poor team performance against United on Tuesday night. And he is eager to take it out on his former team Motherwell.
"The manager's hurting, the players are hurting, the supporters would have been hurt as well," the 30-year-old said.
"The great thing is that we're the players and we can put it right on Saturday. In training there were tackles flying in, we have got to bring that into Saturday. Motherwell is a club that's close to my heart, I had some great times and some of my best football memories there, but I'll be looking for three points.
"They are a very good footballing side, they got a huge boost after beating Celtic. I watched the highlights and they beat them well, it was a well-deserved three points. They beat us up here too so I'm hoping they can be a little complacent coming up here and we can get at them from the first whistle."
Source: PA
