Inverness Caledonian Thistle striker Layton Stewart says the biggest pressure on his shoulders is self-imposed.

The club’s new number nine hit the ground running on his Inverness debut, scoring away at Livingston just minutes after being substituted on.

Caley Thistle’s overall level of performance has often been better than results have suggested this season, with their biggest fault being a lack of a clinical streak in front of goal.

That is an issue Stewart was brought in to help address, taking over the squad number of ICT’s record goalscorer – and current assistant manager – Billy Mckay.

None of that, though, adds unwanted pressure to the Liverpool academy product’s shoulders – at least compared to the standards he will be holding himself to.

"We had so many chances to win, including from me, on Tuesday,” Stewart said.

"We need to take our chances, because we could have been well ahead before half-time. The chances are there, we just need to put them away.

"I put pressure on myself to score goals. That's what I came here to do.

“I got my first one at Livingston and I've had more chances in recent games to score. I just need the momentum of scoring goals to help the team.

"The lads around me will help by scoring goals as well, so there is no pressure from the gaffer and the players.

"It's great that the assistant manager is a number nine. In the sessions, he is always putting on finishing drills and making us to extra after training.

"It has been good to get tips from him, and he hasn’t got a bad scoring record, so I've a lot to live up to!”

Stewart found himself at something of a crossroads in the summer.

After moving to Switzerland in the summer of 2025, he spent time out on loan at Wimbledon in England’s League One in the second half of last season.

Even with an uncertain future, Stewart started matches for the Swiss champions, only to leave the club before the end of the summer transfer window.

It was at that point a move to Inverness became realistic, with Scott Kellacher having openly said he was chasing Stewart throughout 2026 and the prospect of reuniting with former academy teammates Remi Savage and Luis Longstaff in the Highland capital.

"I wanted to play and I wasn't guaranteed to play there,” Stewart said of his Thun exit.

“I knew Inverness was interested about four or five months ago, but I didn’t know my situation with my old club.

"I spoke to the gaffer here and he said if I perform, I will play, so it's in my hands. I need to keep performing and trying to get minutes under my belt and score goals to try and stay in the team.

"The lads have been brilliant with me, so it has been easy to get integrated. I had a few messages from Remi telling me to come, saying the seat next to him in the changing room was free.”

Before leaving Switzerland, Stewart was involved in the group that played Champions League and Europa League qualifiers, battling Dinamo Zagreb all the way in the former before getting past Vikingur in the latter, going on to lose heavily to Lech Poznan.

“It was a great experience to play against such good teams,” Stewart added.

"It was great for me, being young and playing in those kind of games against big clubs at those levels. They had different styles of play, so I could take a lot from them.”