Josh Reid has thanked Carl Tremarco for letting him tap into the Ross County veteran's years of wisdom – but he will not be repaying him by handing his Staggies slot over.
The 18-year-old left-back has grasped the opportunity given to him by boss Stuart Kettlewell this season, impressing on his first four starts at Premiership level.
Reid, from Dingwall, has put much of his success so far down to the advice ex-Inverness full-back Tremarco, 34, has offered since making the move across the Kessock Bridge to join County this summer.
However, Reid knows the 2015 Scottish Cup winner has not made his Dingwall switch purely to act as a guidance councillor and is expecting to face a fight for his jersey.
But Reid is up for the battle, saying: "Carl is vastly experienced with how many games he has played in the top flight for Caley.
"He's a good guy to bounce ideas off and he's always telling me what I should and shouldn't be doing on the training pitch.
"The other experienced guys like Michael Gardyne and Iain Vigurs have been brilliant with me too.
"The left-back slot is definitely not mine yet. Carl is training well and is getting fitter having come in late to the squad.
"I'm just focusing on playing as well as I can and then hopefully it will be one of those situations where they can't afford to take me out of the team."
Reid burst onto the top-flight scene against Motherwell on the opening weekend as he shut down the threat of Jake Hastie, forcing the Steelmen's on-loan Rangers winger to be replaced with half an hour left.
And his displays since have contributed significantly to the Staggies' impressive start, with the Highlanders taking seven points from the first four games.
Last week's defeat to Dundee United was a setback but Reid believes Saturday's trip to Paisley offers the opportunity to get back on track.
He said: "It's a big confidence boost knowing that the manager trusts me to start these games. I think I've shown that confidence in the first four games so long may that continue.
"The first game was definitely a big moment for me and made me realise I could handle this level.
"I haven't played against the calibre of opposition I've played against in the first four games. They have all been different styles of opponents but when I shut Jake Hastie out the game for 60 minutes it was definitely pleasing as I realised I can do it at this level.
"The main thing I've learned is just how much you have to stay switched on in this league. You can't switch off for a single moment during the 90 minutes.
"It's more mentally draining than physically draining but I think I've coped with the step up so far.
"It's another big game against St Mirren this weekend and with the Livi match to come after that, it's a big opportunity for us to go pick up six points. I don't think we deserved the defeat on Saturday but these things happen. We just have to go again in Paisley."
