Caley Thistle assistant boss Scott Kellacher is calling on every player to go for goals and take the focus off the forwards.
The Inverness side are one point behind Championship leaders Kilmarnock ahead of Saturday’s home clash with rock-bottom Dunfermline Athletic.
While they have the equal best defence in the league, conceding just eight goals like Killie, they have netted just 15 in 13 fixtures.
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That’s out of sync with the teams around them – third-placed Arbroath and Partick Thistle, in fifth, each have 24 goals, Raith Rovers, in fourth, have 21, and Killie have 18.
Michael Gardyne’s strike in the 2-2 draw at Ayr United last week was his fifth of the season, with five of main striker Billy Mckay’s six goals coming in the SPFL Trophy.
Fellow forwards Shane Sutherland has scored two league goals this season and one in the cup, while Manny Duku’s two goals have come in the Premier Sports Cup.
Kellacher is keen to see others follow the lead of captain Sean Welsh, who has scored in recent games against Ayr and Raith Rovers, taking his tally to three overall.
Kellacher said: “As a team, it’s always labelled strikers need to score goals, Michael Gardyne has come up with a few this year, but we have players throughout team that can score through set play or open play.
“We have plenty of options so, when we get our chances, we need to take them. Even from the middle of the park with Sean Welsh scoring last week, we need boys to chip in elsewhere, too.
“We don’t defend as back four and goalkeeper, we defend from the front and work hard together.”
Pars are too good to be bottom
Greg Shields and Steven Whittaker are expected to lead the Pars into battle in Inverness this weekend as the club looks for the man to replace Peter Grant, who was recently axed after a winless start to the season.
Kellacher is reading nothing into their opponents’ basement position, with the teams drawing 0-0 in Fife earlier this season.
He believes the Pars have too much quality to sit 10th for too long, but hopes any revival is delayed until after their Caledonian Stadium visit.
Billy Dodds’ assistant added: “We have to be at our best to win this game as Dunfermline are a team with good players who can hurt us.
“They have struggled as of late and they have got very good players who can hurt you and can change a game.
“I know Shieldsy and Steven well. I know they will be working as hard as they can to get the results they are looking for.
“Hopefully they can turn it around and we know ourselves we have to be at it. We can’t win any game thinking we are just going to win it.
“We need to know we are going to push ourselves, which we have to to win any game of football.
“When you play teams at the bottom it is always that bit harder as they are trying to get off the bottom. They can be tricky games as they want to climb the table.
“We need to make sure we are at our best and approach the game in the right way. We need to have the right attitude in the right manner.”
Mistakes proving too costly for ICT
ICT were twice in front at Ayr on Saturday before having to settle for a draw, which denied them a return to first place.
Kellacher insists an overall improvement must be the lesson taken from Somerset Park.
He said: “We need to cut out mistakes and we can’t switch off. We need to take chances and ruthless in both boxes and be more positive in taking our chances.
“Little things in games have frustrated the gaffer is boys switching off at the wrong time which can cost us a goal. We need to be ruthless and take our chances.”
Victory can kick Caley Jags forward
Dodds has stressed ICT performed well enough to win their last two games, at Partick and Ayr, and that’s a view shared by his right-hand man.
He added: “It would be hard to take if we weren’t playing well and weren’t creating chances, then you would be worried where is it going to come from.
“But we have been playing really well, especially the last few weeks. We should have taken three points from those games.
“We have taken chances and that is the good thing moving forward. As long as we keep doing that and get a good win on Saturday then that will kick us on.”
