Caley Thistle skipper Danny Devine confirms his plans to stay at the club for League One title push
The experienced defender, a Scottish Cup hero with Inverness a decade ago, is proud to have led the largely young side to safety – despite a 15-point deduction for going into administration last October.
Saturday's impressive 3-0 victory against champions Arbroath – along with ninth-placed Annan Athletic losing to relegated Dumbarton – ensured ICT were out of reach for the chasing Galabankies.
Inverness could finish in sixth position if they win their final fixture at Montrose this weekend.
Kellacher is determined to progress talks with his current squad, although administration means they can't offer deals to potential new players.
With midfielder Adam Mackinnon the only first-team player under contract beyond next month, Devine, in his second spell with ICT, is confident many more of the group will soon have their futures resolved.
He said: 'I think only one player is signed up for next season, so we're all kind of looking forward to seeing what the club does.
'They have briefly spoken to a few of us already, so hopefully the more that stays the better.
'I'm sure the boys won't be short of offers, but for me personally I love it here.
'I've hugely enjoyed my time at the club this time around, and speaking to others at the club they have as well, so hopefully that's a good thing for when the contract talks do come around.
'Speaking to the boys, practically everyone is out of contract, but I don't think anyone has a bad word to say about their time at the club.
'I think that's pretty telling given the circumstances, and how the atmosphere has been at times on and off the pitch.
'Hopefully the boys want to stick around, but that's up to them.'
Devine, 32, who is named in the Scottish League One team of the season, believes a title challenge should be the aim next term.
He said: 'I think considering how well we've done this season with all the restrictions placed on the team – we would be sitting second without the points deduction – we're going into next season looking to win the league.
'That's regardless of who is here. We are a club that wants to win the league, push on and improve.
'What we've done is great, it's incredible, but we need to keep pushing and move past this to take the club even further on.
'Next season, the ambition will definitely be to win promotion.'
Devine praised his determined team-mates for never giving up the fight to keep the troubled club in League One this season – despite the odds being stacked against them.
He said: 'I always felt things would work themselves out.
'I know that's easier said than done, but I just had a feeling.
'When you're in the heat of it, and if results aren't going your way as well, it would have been quite easy for a lot of the lads who aren't committed to the club to maybe down tools and say they would find another club next season.
'Not a single one of them did that. They all rolled their sleeves up and battled for this club, and that's credit to them.
'I think that's down to the good atmosphere we had in the dressing room.'
Saturday's match at Montrose sees two teams go head-to-head knowing they can't now go down.
ICT will leapfrog their hosts to finish in sixth spot if they win, but Devine welcomes the chance to play without so much riding out the outcome.
He added: 'It's probably the first game this year where we can just relax, and go out there with no pressure and enjoy it.
'We obviously still want to win. As soon as you step on to the pitch you want to win, no matter what, but there is definitely a little bit of a sense of relaxing a bit with the pressure being off, which will hopefully help us play with more freedom.'
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