The long hours spent on youth development can be seen every time Inverness Caledonian Thistle take to the pitch. Sadly, it is the systems at Manchester United, Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea that have to take the credit, not the Highland club itself, but Craig Brewster plans to change all that.

The player-manager knows that he owes a debt to the scouting and coaching that discovered, and polished, John Rankin (Manchester United), Ian Black (Blackburn Rovers) and Steven Watt (Chelsea). Inverness have to source material that bigger clubs pass over, yet Brewster made a promise on his return to Caledonian Stadium in August that he would unearth some local talent to augment the recruits. If he is looking for a role model, then there is none better than today’s opponents, Hibernian.

Brewster enjoyed a season at Easter Road six years ago and passed on his valuable experience to Garry O’Connor, then a teenage striker fresh out of the reserves. O’Connor was eventually sold by Hibernian in 2006 to Lokomotiv Moscow for £1.7 million and moved last summer to Birmingham City for £2.2 million. Brewster will see the latest Hibernian talent today when Steven Fletcher plays up front for the visitors.

The 20-year-old striker signed a new contract on Thursday keeping him at Hibernian until 2013 and although he will almost certainly move before that, the Edinburgh club will be well rewarded for a player they found at the age of 12.

If the Hibernian system can be replicated in the Highlands, Brewster might just find his old club asking for a cut of any future profits if the Inverness player-manager imitates the Easter Road youth policy. For too long, Caledonian Thistle have relied on players brought into area. Grant Munro, the central defender, is the only local player to emerge from the Highlanders’ own ranks currently in the first team.

Not surprisingly, Munro is something of a cult hero to many of the current Inverness under-19 side, most of whom come from the city. However, that youth team has drawn players from Aberdeen, Wick and even Dublin as Caledonian Thistle strive to grow as a top-flight club. The Inverness second team is filled with youngsters and currently sit second in the Scottish Premier League reserve table.

Brewster has watched the success of the development programme at Hibernian with O’Connor, Derek Riordan, Scott Brown, Kevin Thomson and Steven Whittaker all coming through the system at Easter Road in recent years before moving on to make the club £11 million in transfer sales. John Collins’s current crop features Kevin McCann, Lewis Stevenson and, of course, Fletcher.

“There are more and more young players who are trying to build their careers here and it would be great if they come all the way through into the first team because that means you don’t have to go out and search for so many players,” Brewster said. “Rory McAllister has already featured in the Premier League for us and Iain Vigurs got his first taste of top-flight action when he came on as a substitute against Dundee United last weekend.

“Zander Sutherland and Garry Wood are both out on loan [at Elgin City and Montrose] gaining experience just now and they seem to be doing well, so we could start to see more youngsters develop at Inverness and that would be brilliant for the club.”

Hibernian sent Riordan out on loan to Stenhousemuir when Brewster was at Easter Road but Fletcher’s emergence was so effective, he has been a first-team regular for three seasons since the age of 17. “Steven is a fantastic player,” Brewster said. “He has bags of potential and you’ve got to remember he’s still a young guy so he can continue to get better. There’s been a lot said about him and he seems to be progressing every week.

“Everyone knows that Hibernian are a good footballing side and I know that John Collins is always quick to stress to his players that they should play a passing game. You can see that they are confident doing that because they’re so used to playing that way.

“They’ve got a lot of young players coming through and they all play good passing football. But we can play a bit as well and I’m looking forward to the game. We go into it full of confidence after a couple of good victories over St Mirren and Dundee United.

“It’s not only the results that are pleasing but also the way that we performed and, hopefully, we can continue in that vein against Hibs. When you get a few wins under your belt you can see the players’ belief growing and they’ve really gained a confidence from the last couple of weeks.”

Rankin has returned to the first-team picture after being initially dropped by Brewster and the former Old Trafford midfield player has responded by delivering the performances that earned him such a high reputation last term. As has Black. The former Blackburn player also appeared to be ready to leave but returned to the side last week and scored the winner against Dundee United.

“There is nobody who rates Ian Black higher than I do and sometimes he thinks the world is against him,” Brewster said after the Tannadice win. “But it is just a case of growing up, learning from different experiences.”