Inverness Caledonian Thistle defender Kerr Smith says he is closing in on being back to 100 per cent with more minutes on the pitch.

The 21-year-old defender spent the best part of two years on the sidelines through injury before being released from Aston Villa in the summer.

He moved to the Highland capital initially on trial, but did enough to convince Scott Kellacher to hand him a contract.

It was a long process to get back up to speed, but Smith has started in recent weeks, deputising for injured club captain Danny Devine.

Stringing matches together in a short space of time has been a key step to Smith getting back in full flow, and while he still believes there is a way to go, he does not think it is far off.

“I had a long time out of the game, so to come back up the road when the gaffer phoned me, I was absolutely buzzing with it,” he said.

“It was a difficult spell, but I had to focus on getting my head straight. I always knew I would come out of it and play again, but I’ve just had to focus on what I can do to help myself get back to my full capabilities.

“The boys have been brand new since I came in, and the gaffer and (assistant manager) Billy Mckay have really helped me as well. I’m loving it, so long may it continue.

“Since coming here, I’ve been training hard to try and make everything right, and touch-wood I’ve overcome all that now and I’m ready to go.

“I’m getting there, but I’m probably not at 100 per cent yet. I’m definitely picking up a bit of momentum with playing games, and I think I’m very close to being where I want to be.

“I know I can still give a lot more, but that will just come with a bit of time and more consistent minutes. I’m looking forward to getting there.”

Ironically, the door for Smith to start was opened via injury to Devine, but Smith was full of praise for the club captain’s influence while being pleased to have played his part in positive results in recent weeks.

“Danny is a top player, and obviously he is our captain,” Smith added.

“It’s good for me to have someone like him to look up to, so I just had to be patient and take it day by day and keep training hard.

“I’m fine with being patient. I understand I’m up against two top centre backs, and we’re all in it together as a team – no matter who plays on a Saturday, the main thing is that we’re winning.”

“Obviously we had a good result and a clean sheet against Stenhousemuir, and we got another good result against Raith last weekend, so as long as we keep scoring and keep more clean sheets, we’ll be fine.

“We knew at the start of the season that we had ability in the changing room, it probably just needed a bit of time to come together with some new players.

“We knew that once we got it right, we could be a really good team in this league. Now we just have to keep working hard every day. We know where we want to be, so hopefully we can get there, but as long as we keep our heads down we’ll be fine.”