malpas wants a more physical approach as inverness men aim to get back to winning ways
Caley Thistle are looking to discover hint of aggression
Published:
Caley Thistle assistant manager Maurice Malpas believes a more aggressive approach will produce a positive result against Airdrie at Caledonian Stadium this afternoon.
After the bitter disappointment of last week’s Highland derby defeat by Ross County, Malpas has challenged the Inverness players to be more physical when they face Kenny Black’s side.
Caley Jags had scored nine goals in their previous two First Division games before losing at Victoria Park and were unbeaten in four.
Malpas knows the Highlanders need to start a fresh winning streak to move themselves into contention in the league. He said: “A big part of our game is the way we play when the opposition has the ball and we did not do that well last Saturday.
“We hardly had a tackle against Ross County which was out of character for us.
“You would not have thought it was Inverness playing from the performance last week.
“We won’t play well every week, we know that, but our Caley Thistle side will put tackles in and make it difficult for teams and that was not the case last week.
“The bite has been there, but it was missing and this week it is all about getting back to how we play or how we think we should be playing.
“It is a tight league and it is important that after last week’s disappointment we come out and play in a manner that gets us a victory.”
Airdrie have struggled all season and sit second bottom of the First Division, but Malpas discounts their league placing.
He said: “We have had Airdrie watched a couple of times and they look as though they have improved.
“It will be a hard one. They are going to come here and frustrate us.
“Sometimes our frustration can be a problem and it works to the benefit of the other team.
“We have to overcome that. If we can play how we played in the last three or four games, except for the Ross County game, we will be fine.
“All the pressure is on us as we are the home team, everyone is expecting us to beat Airdrie, the fans are expecting us to get back to winning ways after the disappointment of last week.
“Hopefully, the players are desperate to put it right.”
