Dundee United boss Jackie McNamara admits this week will be pivotal in determining where the Tangerines finish up this season.
Saturday’s welcome victory over Aberdeen at Tannadice allied to Inverness drawing at St Johnstone means the Tangerines are back to fourth in the Premiership table just four points behind John Hughes’ Highland outfit.
United will look to close that gap tonight in Inverness as McNamara and his players chase their Europa League dream.
The manager said: “It’s a massive game and a huge opportunity for us to narrow the gap. With Inverness drawing against St Johnstone it’s a chance for us to try to get ahead of them.
“This is a massive week for us that could determine how our season finishes. Saturday was a big step forward.
“Third spot is still achievable. We have two games against Inverness albeit both up there and we need to win them.
“We have three away games before finishing up with the derby so hopefully it’ll be a good end to the season.
“If we finish fourth, we are relying on Inverness to win the cup to get into Europe but there are four games left and we will see what happens.”
Inverness, of course, have a Scottish Cup Final against Falkirk to look forward to at the end of this month.
McNamara played under Hughes when he was Bairns boss and he knows the new PFA Scotland Manager of the Year will have his players fired up for the visit of United.
However, the Tangerines gaffer smiled when asked if he believed the cup final would affect ICT’s focus and said: “I hope Inverness are distracted!
“I was fortunate to play under Yogi when he was at Falkirk and he is a fantastic guy and a great manager. If there’s one thing about Yogi it is that he’ll have his players fired up.
“He was under pressure at the start of the season, which comes and goes for every manager, but he has done really well. I am delighted for him as he’s a great guy.”
United will travel north buoyed by their win over the Dons and McNamara thanked the home support for the backing they gave the team during the game.
He added: “The fans react to what they see on the pitch. If they see players playing without fear, showing desire and commitment, then they will respond. It feeds to the players and you can see them growing in confidence.
“We would have liked to have got the second goal on Saturday to calm things down and get the shackles off but the fans were excellent.”