Mark Kerr says Ayr United must be up for the test of 13 huge games as the Championship run-in gathers pace.
The fiercely competitive nature of this season’s league means United sit three points off the play-offs at either end of the table.
And Kerr knows there is little margin for error as his troops enter the final furlong.
Ayr welcome Inverness to Somerset this Saturday with John Robertson’s Highlanders playing catch-up on the rest of the division.
And Kerr said: “A lot of us are in the same boat, being desperate to play regularly again.
"Hopefully we should be okay now in terms of the weather and we can get a clear run of games from here.
“We had the suspicion at the start of the season that it would be a strange league and it’s panning out that way.
"Everything is so tight and it means you need to be picking up points wherever you can.”
Ayr have endured a miserable record against Caley down the years but snapped their hoodoo at Somerset last January.
Stephen Kelly hit the winner as United beat Inverness for the first time in the league since 2003.
And they almost completed a quick double at the start of this season but were denied by a late Nikolay Todorov leveller in the Highlands.
Kerr said: “It will be a tough game as Inverness have a good squad and are always up there challenging.
“They have the games to catch up and will want to start winning as quickly as possible.
“But we’ve done very well at home so far and want to continue that record.”
