Elgin City manager Ross Draper emphasised the positives after his largely weakened side lost 4-1 in Saturday’s friendly match at Championship Caley Thistle.
The League Two team were so short on numbers, they only had three substitutes including goalkeeper Thomas McHale.
Matthew Cooper, Jake Dolzanski, Mitchell Taylor, Fin Allen, Russell Dingwall were all missing for the visitors from Moray, while on-loan Aberdeen forward Liam Harvey will link up next week, having been with the Dons in their pre-season camp in Portugal.
Elgin’s focus is now fully fixed on getting ready for Saturday’s Viaplay Cup opener against Stuart Kettlewell’s Motherwell at Borough Briggs.
Mistakes will be looked at by Draper
Boss Draper felt his mainly young team fared well against their Championship opponents, but knows there can be lessons learned from the mistakes which were ruthlessly punished.
The 2015 Scottish Cup-winner with ICT said: “It was a good test for us against a good team, which is ideal going into the game against Motherwell.
“It was also a good fitness test as Inverness had two different teams getting 45 minutes each, whereas we were down to the bare bones, so it meant most played for 90 minutes. We seem to be making progress.
“I asked the players to try and keep the ball when we did get it and these are areas we will aim to improve on. We had a young side and we gave it a good shot.
“The goals we conceded were not great from our point of view and there is plenty to work on defensively. We will analyse the mistakes, and as a unit, but we were in the game. Had we gone in just 2-1 down, it would have been fair. We lost a sloppy goal when we tried to overplay.
“As I said to the boys, results don’t bother me (in pre-season), it’s about performances.”
FULL TIME: ICTFC 4-1 Elgin City
We win our first pre-season match back thanks to a double from Austin Samuels and goals from Aaron Doran and Billy Mckay. pic.twitter.com/WDYjk5FUKm
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) July 8, 2023
Stronger City player pool imminent
Draper is relishing the chance to have more players ready for the weekend, with two new faces on the brink of being added.
He said: “We didn’t have Matthew, Jake, Mitch, Fin and Russell for Saturday. We also have Liam Harvey through the door and we are close to agreeing two more loans, which we should get done this week.
“So, in effect, we were missing eight players, and they are big players, such as Coops as captain, and Russell. You take these players out of the team and it will affect the boys.
“Deals have been at a standstill for a while where teams are not moving and you have domino effect from the top.
“We hope things will move this week and over the next couple of weeks so we are as ready as we can be for the first League Two game against Stranraer (on August 5).”
Cameron’s goal didn’t shock Draper
Midfielder Brian Cameron struck a superb low goal past Mark Ridgers to draw Elgin level after Aaron Doran made it 1-0 to Inverness.
Two Austin Samuel strikes took the game away from Elgin before Billy Mckay added a fourth in the second half.
Draper admits he has a decision to make when it comes to finding the ideal balance to best use experienced Elgin star Cameron.
He added: “Brian took his goal really well. He has got that in his locker – he’s very good technically.
“It’s a tough one, because we want to play Brian deep, to get on the ball. I think that’s his best position, but from that you take away the part of his game where he can get forward and get goals.
“It didn’t surprise me when it hit the back of the net.”
