Veterans look for further upsets in illustrious Inverness cup history

Carl Tremarco and Aaron Doran are two survivors from 2015's success against Falkirk

ICT captain Carl Tremarco with the William Hill Scottish Cup
Published 12th Apr 2019
Last updated 18th Apr 2019

This weekend's Scottish Cup semi-final with Hearts sees two veterans of Caley Thistle's 2015 success eager for more cup joy at the national stadium on Saturday.

Inverness midfielder Aaron Doran aims to continue his impressive goalscoring run, with the 27-year-old Irishman having notched in every round so far this season; in the 6-1 replay win against Edinburgh City, the 4-0 victory over East Kilbride and in the 2-2 draw against Highland rivals Ross County before John Robertson's side won on penalties in the replay.

His stoppage-time winner against fellow Championship side Dundee United at Tannadice in the quarter-final last month started a four-game goal streak which took his tally to the season so far to 11, winning him player of the month for March.

Doran won the cup with Caley Thistle in 2015 when they were a Premiership outfit and he is keen to help them through to another final, against either Aberdeen or Celtic.

"The Scottish Cup has been good for me this year, my form is good at the minute and I want to keep that going, I want to have a good performance on Saturday and hopefully celebrate after the game"

"The last couple of months I have been making a lot more runs and the ball has been falling for me, like it did against Dundee United"

"I scored four or five games in a row recently and I haven't done that in a long while"

"I feel fitter and sharper at the moment, it is all going well. We deserve to be here."

"We know Hearts are in a better division than us but we are playing some good football at the moment and we are confident going into this game."

Inverness beat Celtic 3-2 in the 2015 semi-final with David Raven scoring a dramatic last-gasp winner in extra-time.

Doran believes that Hoops fans are still sore from the Josh Meekings hand-ball, missed by the officials, with the Hoops leading 1-0.

He said: "The pendulum swung in our favour and I think the Celtic fans are still unhappy with that so they will probably be looking to get us in the final and get a bit of payback"

"It was a great day and to win the final a few weeks later was a big achievement for the club"

"Even getting to the semi-final this season, with the position we are in, is a huge achievement and I think all the players can be proud of themselves"

Another survivor from the last Scottish Cup win, Carl Tremarco, is now entrusted with the Captain's armband.

"Since I've been at this club we've always been underdogs - even when we were in the Premiership - against Celtic we were massive underdogs, against Hearts it'll be the same"

"The luck we got against Celtic (with the handball) we've got to make the most of that, but also we need to make the most of our own good play and capitalise on that"

"We've been trying to enjoy the week building up to it, just embracing it, go out their and enjoy it. It's what you play the game for after all"

"We've just got to come off the pitch with no regrets, after the final whistle - win or lose - you need to know you couldn't have given any more, and hopefully what will be, will be"