Terry Butcher has urged his Inverness players to cement their place in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League with a victory over relegation rivals Kilmarnock.

A win over the Rugby Park outfit would seal Caley Thistle's status in the top flight in a remarkable turnaround from the start of the year, when the Highlanders looked doomed before Butcher took over from Craig Brewster as manager.

With two games remaining, the former England captain Butcher knows his side's fate is very much in their own hands.

"It's always been down to us," he said. "We know now if we win at Kilmarnock on Saturday then we're safe and I'm sure Kilmarnock will be saying the same thing too.

"A draw could be enough if St Mirren lose, but we'll be going down there and doing what we always do and that's send out a team to win.

"The team at the moment is bubbly, bright, sharp and hungry and gelling well together.

"The same XI and formation has helped us achieve good results in the last three games, and it's just a case of keeping that freshness about the side, bearing in mind we've had to travel up and down the country twice before we kick off on Saturday.

"There's a lot of character in this team and deserve to stay up because of the way they've gone about their business. They're a credit to themselves, the club and their families.

"It'll be a shame if it doesn't happen because they've put a lot in to it."

Inverness are full of confidence after going unbeaten so far in their post-split fixtures.

They have also won all four of their league and cup games against Killie this season, a run Butcher would love to extend.

"We've played extremely well after the split and put ourselves in a strong position," he said.

"I think a lot of people will be saying we should be safe by now and the very fact that we're not means we have to raise our game again.

"But we need to keep that belief going and focus our efforts on one thing, and that's a win at Rugby Park.

"We could play rubbish at Kilmarnock and get all three points and I'd be quite happy with that.

"But it's about continuing the good progress which we have been making."

In-form Killie striker Kevin Kyle will be the main threat to the visitors after scoring six goals in his last three outings, including a midweek double against St Mirren.

But Butcher believes his own front men will give opposite number Jim Jefferies a headache.

He said: "We've played two games against Killie in my time here and won both games with Kevin Kyle on the opponent's team.

"He's a threat and on fire at the moment and a lot of their play goes through him so we need our big men to stand up and be counted.

"We've got some attack-minded players who like to go forward and score goals and they'll cause any team problems, so hopefully we can get good service to them on Saturday and have a go at Kilmarnock."