Billy Dodds insists Caley Thistle are determined to return to winning ways when they tackle Queen of the South at Palmerston tomorrow night.
The Inverness CT head coach takes his team to Dumfries to face the Championship’s second-bottom side as they seek to halt a mini-slide which has seen them drop from first to third in the table.
📅 On this Day on 2018
We came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Queen of the South at Palmerston!
We're in action at Palmerston this Friday, with the match live on BBC Scotland
Match Info👉 https://t.co/74sNHvmciU pic.twitter.com/bni15Qy62y
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 17, 2021
Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at home to rock-bottom Dunfermline Athletic stretched the Caley Jags’ winless run to five matches, although they are only four points behind pace-setters Kilmarnock.
Dodds, who missed last week with illness, is back and determined to drive his players on towards three points.
He said: “I’d say it’s about getting back on track, making sure we get a win. We’re in stages playing better football now than we did at the start of the season.
“We were streetwise and made sure we were seeing out games. Now we are losing a couple of goals and making a few mistakes and getting punished.
“If we can eradicate those mistakes and keep playing the standard of football we’re playing then we’ll win more games.”
Plenty of positives still on show
Dodds is not hitting the panic button, because he’s seen enough within these disappointing results to suggest his side are not far away from turning the corner again.
He added: “We’re not kidding anyone on. It has been a disappointing few weeks, but anyone at the games would agree we have had plenty of the games.
“Look at our match at Partick Thistle, we were on top for 90 minutes. At Ayr United, we could have won it after controlling large spells of it.
“Against Dunfermline, we played really well in the first half and had a go at the end.
“We have not been getting results by being punished for small mistakes. The performance levels have been good and on the training ground they have been great.”
Killie loanee Cameron lifts Queens
Despite Queen of the South being only two points above Dunfermline, Dodds is wary of their threats.
The Doonhamers were only killed off by a late Michael Gardyne goal in a 2-1 win for ICT earlier this season and have drawn with Raith Rovers and Arbroath in the past fortnight.
Dodd said: “Like any team in the Championship, they will be very difficult on their home pitch. We went there last season when we were chasing the play-offs and we had momentum going and drew 1-1.
“We really have to be at it. It’s a hard place to go and it’s on astroturf as well. Queens are a hard-working team and they showed that up here.
🎟️Tickets are now available for our Scottish Cup Third Round tie against Morton and SPFL Trust Trophy Quarter Final against Raith Rovers.
Info 👉https://t.co/Qfk7D0MYfo pic.twitter.com/BjsOJkXdmm
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 17, 2021
“They have good players and they have signed Innes Cameron as well on loan from Kilmarnock. He gives them a physical presence up front. They have plenty of threats.”
Dodds confirmed there are a couple of “knocks and niggles” as players will be given right up until the last minute before a decision is made for the game, which is live on BBC Scotland tomorrow, with a 7.45pm kick-off.
Last week, skipper Sean Welsh, strikers Manny Duku and Shane Sutherland and full-back Wallace Duffy were missing through a mixture of illness and injury.
After this league game, ICT host Morton in the Scottish Cup next Saturday followed by Raith Rovers visiting for the quarter-finals of the SPFL Trust Trophy seven days later.
