In-demand Dargo keen to keep his options open

INVERNESS Caley Thistle striker Craig Dargo will wait until the end of the season before deciding his future and admits that he could stay at the Caledonian Stadium.

The former Kilmarnock front man scored twice on Saturday as his side eased to victory against Motherwell - one of the clubs keen to secure his services on a Bosman transfer.

The 29-year-old has scored 31 goals for Caley, with four league games remaining in his second season. That form has alerted clubs in England to the striker, who has been linked with Nottingham Forest and Plymouth.

"Inverness have offered me a contract, I've said to the manager it's a big move for me in the summer and I want to weigh up all my options," Dargo said. "I won't do anything underhand to Caley Thistle - I've got great respect for the club and the manager. If anything happens then I'll tell him. I'll hopefully know more myself in the next five or six weeks because, for my fiancee as well, it will be a big thing if we are moving. But I might be staying here, it's up in the air right now."

Dargo, who went off with 20 minutes left with a tight hamstring, added: "Inverness have made a decent offer but no matter what the offer was, I was never going to rush in and sign straight away. There are a few clubs interested so I'm waiting to see what's on the table to make the best decision for me and my family."

Charlie Christie, the Inverness manager, said: "I would be surprised if there wasn't lots of interest. Real top quality players for the bottom six clubs are thin on the ground. The search goes on and we have identified a few people. But I don't want to talk about Craig leaving because I'm hopeful he might stay."

Maurice Malpas claimed he was embarrassed to be Motherwell manager after their limp display. The visitors were outplayed during a first half that saw Dargo open the scoring in the 14th minute with a deflected effort and slot home a second just before the interval.

He said: "We have played poorly in the past but nothing like that - there was no heart. In terms of our work-rate and attitude that is by far the worst performance. I think you can class that as a typical end-of-season game, one team that had a wee bit of urgency against a team who wanted to pass an afternoon.

"I think the players will learn more about me. They will have a different week next week. We have got a reserve game on Tuesday and, unless Paul Hegarty can talk me out of it, a lot of those players will be playing.

"If they don't want to put it in on match days, we can see if they can put it in for a reserve game and I'll get my pound of flesh as I am absolutely disgusted with their attitude."