AARON DORAN has admitted he would jump at the chance to sign a new contract at Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

The club have already contract started talks with Josh Meekings and Andrew and Graeme Shinnie, and the former Blackburn Rovers winger, who is enjoying his best form since first moving north, initially on loan, in early 2011, hopes he is also on the list.

Last season was all but a write-off for the 21-year-old Irishman due to injury problems. But he has made impressive strides this season as a creative outlet for the team who are second in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table ahead of today's visit to Dundee United and still involved in both cup competitions.

Earlier this week, Doran picked up the young player of the month award for November and made his 50th Inverness appearance in Tuesday's derby victory over Ross County, said: "My contract is up at the end of the season, so I'm going into every game looking to do as well as I can and see what happens.

"I've had a few words with the manager about it already, but I need to keep up my form. If I do that, then I'm sure something will come up. I want to stay. We are pushing for Europe next season and that is something I would like to experience. However, I know the ball is in my court: I have to keep playing well.

"This is the best run of form I've enjoyed since coming up here. It is hard not to enjoy your football when you are playing every week and things are going great. When you are fit and get that run of games, your confidence swells and you feel like you can make an impact in every match."

Inverness have lost just once in 16 games and have scored an average of two goals a match in the league. A tight squad could be stretched to the limit in coming weeks and months, but Doran feels they will be able to cope.

He said: "There's not a lot of pressure on us as we are confounding expectations but we want to get really comfortable up at the top of the table and stay there. However, we just take it game by game and Dundee United is another big test."

Terry Butcher, the Inverness manager, feels his team's 4-0 hammering of United in late September sparked the run that has taken them into second place.

He said: "It was a great display from us that day and it did come out of the blue a little bit. That was our first win in the league and we won the next two after that, so it really kicked us off. I felt we had done well in the league before that, but weren't doing enough to get the results some of our play merited. We knew a big performance was coming and that's what happened against United."

Peter Houston's side have lost only two of their last 11 matches but have not won at Tannadice since August 19. Butcher said: "Dundee United haven't been helped by injuries to key players this season, while some players also left the club in the summer.

"They have had to restructure and get new players in, but I would expect them to be up there challenging at the end of the season. We've enjoyed some good matches against them in the past, with plenty of goals, and I'm expecting an open game. We're on the road again, but we'll travel in good spirits after good away results at Celtic and Aberdeen."

The Shinnie brothers have been instrumental in Inverness's success but Stuart Armstrong, the United midfielder, hopes to put one over his fellow Aberdonians this afternoon, as the Taysiders bid to move within two points of their opponents.

The 20-year-old said: "I know both of the Shinnie brothers from our home town of Aberdeen and they have been getting a lot of good reviews for their performances this season. I was at the same boys' club as Graeme and trained with Andrew at Rangers.

"They have been key to Inverness's form this season. I have always thought Andrew is a great player because he has a great touch and great awareness. I think he's maybe a cut above the rest. Graeme is also a good player and being captain at such a young age is great for him. It will obviously be nice to see them but hopefully they won't be celebrating come the final whistle."

Armstrong admits the 4-0 defeat at Inverness marked a low in United's season and wants to make amends today, buoyed by last weekend's resounding 3-0 derby win over Dundee at Dens Park.

He said: "Everyone's talking about how Inverness and Aberdeen are having good seasons and that we're struggling but I think if we win [today] we'll be right up just behind them, so it makes things very interesting.

"The fans will be key to us over the festive period because we have a lot of games coming up and there's always a good turnout at this time of year. "We hope we can build on the derby and it's good to see us get back [to] scoring goals. After some good performances I'd say we're really confident going into this one."

Houston, the United manager, said: "Our away form has been excellent but we would like to kick on a bit more at Tannadice in front of our own supporters.

"We have some home games coming up so it's down to us to take as many points as possible from them although we know we'll have to be at our best to get the better of Inverness."

DUNDEE UNITED v INVERNESS CT Winger knows consistency key to new deal

AARON DORAN has admitted he would jump at the chance to sign a new contract at Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The club have already contract started talks with Josh Meekings and Andrew and Graeme Shinnie, and the former Blackburn Rovers winger, who is enjoying his best form since first moving north, initially on loan, in early 2011, hopes he is also on the list.

Last season was all but a write-off for the 21-year-old Irishman due to injury problems. But he has made impressive strides this season as a creative outlet for the team who are second in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League table ahead of today's visit to Dundee United and still involved in both cup competitions.

Earlier this week, Doran picked up the young player of the month award for November and made his 50th Inverness appearance in Tuesday's derby victory over Ross County, said: "My contract is up at the end of the season, so I'm going into every game looking to do as well as I can and see what happens.

"I've had a few words with the manager about it already, but I need to keep up my form. If I do that, then I'm sure something will come up. I want to stay. We are pushing for Europe next season and that is something I would like to experience. However, I know the ball is in my court: I have to keep playing well.

"This is the best run of form I've enjoyed since coming up here. It is hard not to enjoy your football when you are playing every week and things are going great. When you are fit and get that run of games, your confidence swells and you feel like you can make an impact in every match."

Inverness have lost just once in 16 games and have scored an average of two goals a match in the league. A tight squad could be stretched to the limit in coming weeks and months, but Doran feels they will be able to cope.

He said: "There's not a lot of pressure on us as we are confounding expectations but we want to get really comfortable up at the top of the table and stay there. However, we just take it game by game and Dundee United is another big test."

Terry Butcher, the Inverness manager, feels his team's 4-0 hammering of United in late September sparked the run that has taken them into second place.

He said: "It was a great display from us that day and it did come out of the blue a little bit. That was our first win in the league and we won the next two after that, so it really kicked us off. I felt we had done well in the league before that, but weren't doing enough to get the results some of our play merited. We knew a big performance was coming and that's what happened against United."

Peter Houston's side have lost only two of their last 11 matches but have not won at Tannadice since August 19. Butcher said: "Dundee United haven't been helped by injuries to key players this season, while some players also left the club in the summer.

"They have had to restructure and get new players in, but I would expect them to be up there challenging at the end of the season. We've enjoyed some good matches against them in the past, with plenty of goals, and I'm expecting an open game. We're on the road again, but we'll travel in good spirits after good away results at Celtic and Aberdeen."

The Shinnie brothers have been instrumental in Inverness's success but Stuart Armstrong, the United midfielder, hopes to put one over his fellow Aberdonians this afternoon, as the Taysiders bid to move within two points of their opponents.

The 20-year-old said: "I know both of the Shinnie brothers from our home town of Aberdeen and they have been getting a lot of good reviews for their performances this season. I was at the same boys' club as Graeme and trained with Andrew at Rangers.

"They have been key to Inverness's form this season. I have always thought Andrew is a great player because he has a great touch and great awareness. I think he's maybe a cut above the rest. Graeme is also a good player and being captain at such a young age is great for him. It will obviously be nice to see them but hopefully they won't be celebrating come the final whistle."

Armstrong admits the 4-0 defeat at Inverness marked a low in United's season and wants to make amends today, buoyed by last weekend's resounding 3-0 derby win over Dundee at Dens Park.

He said: "Everyone's talking about how Inverness and Aberdeen are having good seasons and that we're struggling but I think if we win [today] we'll be right up just behind them, so it makes things very interesting.

"The fans will be key to us over the festive period because we have a lot of games coming up and there's always a good turnout at this time of year. "We hope we can build on the derby and it's good to see us get back [to] scoring goals. After some good performances I'd say we're really confident going into this one."

Houston, the United manager, said: "Our away form has been excellent but we would like to kick on a bit more at Tannadice in front of our own supporters.

"We have some home games coming up so it's down to us to take as many points as possible from them although we know we'll have to be at our best to get the better of Inverness."