Coll Donaldson feels Caley Thistle have reverted to the solid defensive traits that he considers a hallmark of his time at the club.
Defender Donaldson will make his 100th appearance for the Highlanders if he plays in today’s Championship trip to Partick Thistle, just over two years after making the move from Dundee United in August 2017.
Donaldson has taken pride in a strong defensive showing during his time at Inverness, most notably being part of a backline which kept a club record seven consecutive clean sheets during his debut season at the club.
That made the 24-year-old all the more surprised at recent three-goal defeats to Dundee United and Arbroath, however Donaldson has been pleased to bounce back with four successive shut-outs ahead of the trip to Firhill.
Donaldson said: “Clean sheets are obviously something you look at as a defender. Strikers are probably not bothered, they are looking to score, but as a defensive unit we were shipping too many goals.
“They were coming in batches. We were having a few clean sheets then losing a few goals.
“Hopefully we can put together a long run of not conceding many goals.
“It was strange – the first year I was here we set the clean sheet record, and then last year we didn’t get as many clean sheets but we weren’t conceding as many goals.
“This year has been a bit different, but I think we have managed to turn a corner recently.”
Donaldson considers it his task to keep goalkeeper Mark Ridgers quiet, adding: “We have put together a decent wee run as a team of keeping clean sheets. We are happy with how things are going defensively, and Saturday’s win against Ayr was good going forward as well.
“I sometimes say to boys you can work for your clean sheets – you feel like you do a lot of defending when Ridgers has a lot of saves to make.
“I feel like we have been really solid. We have actually stopped teams getting into positions where Ridgers is having to make saves. From that point of view it has been a lot more positive.”
Donaldson is playing down the personal significance of his milestone as he seeks a victory over the ninth-placed Jags.
He added: “It’s personally good to reach 100 games, but it’s just another game where we will be looking to take three points and continue our run.
“We have won our last three, but Partick beat us 3-1 up here. It’s something we will be trying to rectify.
“I don’t think we needed any warning. Partick have obviously struggled this year in terms of their league position, but on a personal note any time I have played against them, even last season, it was always a tough game – especially down there.”
