Caley Thistle’s Luis Longstaff on why he feels he’s at career-best level ahead of Kelty Hearts showdown

Caley Thistle winger Luis Longstaff reckons he’s at the peak of his career – and his goals and assist statistics prove it.

The 24-year-old former Liverpool youth player has been with Inverness since July 2023, having spent the previous campaign in the Championship with Cove Rangers.

This summer, manager Scott Kellacher moved quickly to secure the attacker on a new contract, keeping him at the Sarens PSG Stadium until 2027.

And he’s got off to a great start to this year as ICT, now officially out of administration, target winning promotion from League One after a two-year absence from the Championship.

Alongside Aberdeen loanee Alfie Bavidge, Longstaff has scored six goals in all competitions – including netting the third in Saturday’s 4-1 KDM Evolution Trophy win, which was their fifth successive group stage victory, securing them a seeded place in round two and avoiding a Championship opponent.

Longstaff has also chipped in with two League One assists, the same as team-mate David Wotherspoon and just one behind Alfie Stewart, who is also on loan from Aberdeen.

Longstaff’s performances improving

Inverness return to league action on Saturday when Kelty Hearts come calling, with the north team one point behind front-runners Hamilton and Stenhousemuir following their 3-1 loss against the Accies a fortnight ago.

ICT kicked off their season with a five-point deduction as a result of being in administration last year.

Longstaff is one of the first names on Scott Kellacher’s team-sheet and he believes he’s now delivering the consistent performances which are needed to keep him there.

He said: “Numbers-wise, this is probably the peak of my career.

“A big aim from last year to this year was to try and improve my performances.

“They were good last year, but the numbers did go with it.

“I can’t complain with the numbers at the start of this season. I need to try and keep doing that for the rest of the season and then the team as well as I would be in a good place.

“There is healthy competition for places upfront.

“That’s what we maybe lacked a bit last season, although some of that was not under our control (due to administration limiting squad numbers).

“This year, it has shown on the pitch that our numbers are high.

“You want to keep your place in the team – there’s always someone good enough to take your place.”

Chance to return to first position

Weekend visitors Kelty Hearts are second-bottom of the table, but their two wins have both come on the road, including a 2-0 result at Cove Rangers on September 27.

The Fifers also go into this clash on the back of a 2-1 home victory against St Mirren B in the KDM Evolution Trophy, booking their place in round two with one match to spare.

ICT won 3-0 at Kelty on the opening afternoon of the season, with Longstaff on the scoresheet with the second goal.

However, Longstaff believes only a top performance will ensure they get the victory needed to keep them on the leaders’ tails, or possibly even return the Caley Jags to first spot.

He added: “We got a good result against Kelty on the first day of the season, but it was still a tough game.

“We’re expecting another tough one on Saturday.

“We have worked on a few things this week, like pressing and playing out from the back, that we will try to put in place on Saturday.

“The most important things are putting in a good performance and getting the win.

“Having already played Kelty, we will have more ideas about them, as they will have about how we’re going to play

“If we can keep playing how we’ve been playing, excluding the Hamilton game, we should be OK.”

[Source: Press and Journal]