Sean Welsh reckons Championship table-toppers Caley Thistle are sitting targets – even for lowly Hamilton this afternoon.
The Inverness CT skipper, who returned to the side last week with a composed free-kick opener in the 2-1 win over Queen of the South, won’t be reading anything into the 14-point gap between the teams.
He said: “Everyone wants to beat us – we’re the target. Every team wants to take the mantle of stopping our unbeaten run. We just have to take one game at a time and keep doing what we’re doing.
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“No game in this league is easy and we know that. We will keep going about our business properly and try to keep getting positive results but it won’t be easy. We must be ready for every challenge as it comes.
“We go out every time to try and win it. Teams will try a wee bit harder maybe to take that scalp but we’ve got to be ready for that. We will do what we’re doing and focus on ourselves.”
Welsh wary of Hamilton’s danger
The only league opponents not to have been beaten so far by ICT is bottom side Dunfermline recently when the Pars pulled out their best performance to draw 0-0 and could have won had it not been for a few key stops from Mark Ridgers.
Welsh knows Accies, who dropped down from the top-flight in May, will also have enough quality to turn around their season and will be looking to get going today.
He added: “Like Dunfermline, they have good players. They are not achieving the results they are wanting at the moment.
“On their day, they can still be a good side. We have to go down there, be ready for that challenge and hopefully get another good start and take advantage of any nervousness.
“I haven’t seen too much of Hamilton this season but we know they still have quality players. Every game is difficult, especially away from home.
“They will want to get their season kick-started after coming down from the Premiership.
“They will be fired up because they need to start getting positive results. It will be a hard challenge, but we’re used to that in this league.”
Scoring return ideal for Welsh
For 31-year-old Welsh, his return to the team after biding his time played out ideally, especially as the goal set the team up for three hard-earned points over Queens last weekend.
He said: “It could not have gone any better for me. I have had to be patient with the boys doing so well with such a great start to the season. I got my chance and thankfully I took it by getting the goal and we got the three points.
“To be honest, I don’t know if I’m a free-kick taker or not, but I like to give it a try. I noticed the keeper moved his wall over a bit too far and I saw the gap and gave it a shot. Thankfully it went in.
“The plan was to come out sharp. We had been growing into games a lot but we wanted to start sharper and try and get that goal. That gives us the platform to build from there.”
Strong mentality to keep rivals at bay
Welsh explained there is little to sweat about in terms of the side’s physically shape and the results show they are in tune.
Therefore, the captain feels it’s about staying focused on the pitch to now allow any slip-ups.
He added: “You can see we are getting the results by doing what we’re doing physically.
“Mentally, we have to stay switched on. If we take our foot off the gas or think we need only turn up to win then it doesn’t work like that in football.
“Every game is very difficult and every game is a scrap. We have to mentally stay on top and ensure we’re not switching off for a minute. We need to keep doing the same things we do every week.”
