Billy Dodds insists bold cup displays by two of Caley Thistle’s Championship rivals showed just how well his players have done to post back-to-back season-opening wins.
There was no Premier Sports Cup game for ICT last Saturday and Dodds was handily placed as a BBC Radio Scotland commentator to watch this weekend’s opponents Ayr United push Premiership Dundee United all the way before losing on penalties.
The two sides Inverness have defeated in the Championship already, Arbroath and Raith Rovers, also made headlines with their cup showings.
Arbroath were only pipped by double cup holders St Johnstone on spot-kicks after a 2-2 draw over 120 minutes, then Raith Rovers stunned Aberdeen by hitting back from a goal down to win 2-1 and progress.
Caley Jags’ 1-0 league victories over both Arbroath and Raith mean they sit top of the second-tier table after two games alongside Partick Thistle and Kilmarnock.
Hard work makes ICT tick – Dodds
Inverness head coach Dodds reckons the latest efforts of their first two league opponents highlights just how impressive it was to emerge with maximum points.
He said: “Stirling got a draw against us then beat us on penalties, and Cove beat us, but the hardest thing in football is to show that comeback mentality and we’ve shown that in the two league games.
“You saw last weekend, St Johnstone struggled to get past Arbroath and Raith beat Aberdeen, so we’ve had two positive results and I’m delighted with that.
“We’re just looking forward to the game, but we know we’ve got to work hard.
“I’ve always said that if my team works hard, we’ve got enough in the locker to win a fair amount of games, and I still believe that to be the case.
“There’s a real team spirit and togetherness here. You can lose that when you lose games, and we were shocked in the cup.”
Ayr will head north with belief
Ayr, who battled back from 2-0 down to hold Arbroath two weeks ago, felt they should have finished Dundee United off on Saturday.
And Dodds, watching on, expects the Honest Men to travel north with belief on the back of their latest displays.
He added: “I was at the Ayr United-Dundee United game last weekend, so I know how tough it’s going to be.
“Ayr are going to have taken so much confidence out of that game, they were unlucky to lose.
“We know what’s in front of us, but we’re looking forward to it.”
