Craig warns of McKay threat
St Mirren boss Tommy Craig insists he is not fooled by Inverness striker Billy McKay's dry spell.
The Northern Irishman netted almost 50 goals for the Highlanders over the previous two seasons but has struck just once this term.
That goal was scored against Hamilton on the opening day of the season and the 25-year-old has failed to strike in the 10 games he has played for club and country since.
But Craig insists that McKay will still be a threat for Caley Thistle when they visit St Mirren Park on Saturday.
Craig told Press Association Sport: "Billy is a natural goalscorer and he is a danger for us.
"I think he is suffering because teams are not daft. Over the last couple of years he has been outstanding and his haul of goals have been remarkable, but people have had to work out a way of curtailing that.
"He is finding it harder to get those chances that he does so well with now but make no mistake, he still has goals in him.
"I just hope he dries up for another few days."
Saints welcome Inverness to Paisley looking to win back-to-back matches for the first time this season.
The Buddies lost their opening five Scottish Premiership matches of the season but restored some pride when they battled back from two goals down to grab a point at Aberdeen before beating St Johnstone in Perth.
And keeper Marian Kello says the team's close bond has been key to their mini-recovery.
"We tried to stick together, even with the bad results," he said. "We have tried to forget about the bad results and after every game we would try and focus on the next game.
"Results were not coming and everyone in the dressing room felt the pressure.
"We just kept doing the same thing saying the result would come but it wasn't coming.
"It wasn't easy because we were feeling the pressure but the guys have shown great spirit.
"In the last game, we scored first and got the victory. We showed great spirit especially against Aberdeen to come back to draw 2-2."
St Mirren winger Gregg Wylde has been ruled out for a fortnight after undergoing surgery on a groin injury. However, Jeroen Tesselaar (hamstring) and Ellis Plummer (groin) could both feature.
Ross Draper is hoping Inverness return to early-season form when domestic football returns on Saturday.
The Highlanders stormed to the top of the Premiership with a five-game unbeaten run at the start of the season but slipped off after they were beaten 3-1 by Partick Thistle at Firhill after the first international break.
Since then John Hughes' side have been knocked out of the League Cup by Rangers and taken four points from nine in the league.
A 1-1 draw with Highland rivals Ross County came before Scotland's Euro 2016 qualifying double-header against Georgia and Poland, and ahead of the trip to St Mirren, the Caley midfielder, 25, said: "It is a tale of two international breaks really.
"We were flying at the first (break) and didn't really want the break to come and then we stuttered with results last month and it maybe came at a good time.
"In saying that, I think the performances have been good.
"How we didn't get a second goal against Ross County to win the game is still hard to believe.
"So it is not a case of performances, it is just nicking that goal and turning a point into three.
"The break gave us a chance to rebuild as a group. The majority of the squad have played all the games so it is nice for them to have a breather and we will kick on and go again."
Former Crystal Palace striker Ibra Sekajja could make his Inverness debut at St Mirren Park.
The 21-year-old joined Caley Thistle last week on a short-term deal and could add some spark to a side which has won just one of their last four matches after a flying start to the season.
Source: PA
