The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)

Savage taking step up to the Championsh­ip in his stride with ICT

Remi Savage is relishing the switch from academy football in England to chasing crucial points with Caley Thistle in the cut-and-thrust Scottish Championsh­ip.

The 22-year-old, who moved from Liverpool to Newcastle for £250,000 in 2021, was handed the chance to step into senior football last month.

Inverness boss Duncan Ferguson made Savage his sole winter window permanent capture and the left-sided defender has now made six appearance­s.

The 3-2 debut win at Raith Rovers has been followed by a narrow loss to Queen’s Park and league draws against Partick Thistle, Arbroath and Dunfermlin­e. He even opened his scoring account against Partick.

He also played in the 3-1 home Scottish Cup defeat against Premiershi­p visitors Hibs.

Joining a largely young pool of players has helped Savage settle swiftly into the Highlands.

He said: “The Scottish Championsh­ip is really competitiv­e – every game means something. It has been a real change compared to academy football. I have adapted well, and I just want to keep improving game by game.

“I’m really enjoying it. I am settling in well. It’s a good group of lads to join. It’s quite a young group, which is helpful to me as a young player coming into men’s football.”

Tuesday’s 0-0 draw with Dunfermlin­e was only ICT’s fourth league shut-out of the campaign, and Savage insists the effort came from not just the back-line and goalkeeper.

He said: “As a defender, keeping a clean sheet is the main thing you’re looking for. But it is not just the defenders who should get credit. It is down to how we defend as a team. I think we really defended well on Tuesday and, hopefully, we can do the same at Morton.”

Today sees ninthplace­d Inverness take on a Morton team on a 16-match unbeaten surge, including 11 wins, and now just one point outside the top three.

Savage says there is enough quality on board for Ferguson’s men to cause an upset and land a victory.

He said: “I expect a good game, with two teams going out to win it. Morton are higher up the table, but we’re confident we can go and get three points. As a group, we will try to perform well, give 100%, and, hopefully, three points come back to Inverness.

“We believe it’s a game we can win, and we will do everything we can to get three points. We have just got to go and play our game. We can’t think about how well they are playing and the run they’re on.”