Queen of the South boss Allan Johnston described Shane Sutherland as a ‘game-changer’ as Caley Thistle scored a 2-1 Championship win at Palmerston on Friday.
Billy Mckay’s double, including a first half penalty, helped ICT post their first victory in six matches, putting them third in the table currently, one point behind Kilmarnock and Raith Rovers.
For Johnston, it was the efforts of Sutherland, who had been sidelined over the last four matches, which caught the eye of the Doonhamers manager who saw his team drop to the foot of the table by Saturday night.
He said: “We’re not going to play against the quality of Inverness every week. They are a good team and they are up there challenging for a reason.
“They are solid at the back and I think Shane Sutherland coming back was important. You can see how much they’ve missed him in recent games. He’s a game-changer.
“We didn’t deserve the win the game. We didn’t do enough. Inverness have good players who caused us problems. Physically, they bullied us for the majority of the game.
“They are a big, strong team and we have to ensure we stand up better to that.
“We conceded cheap goals. We need to tighten up defensively. You can’t afford one long pass to come through the middle (for the penalty).
“We don’t win the header, they got in behind us and it’s a rash challenge (from Roberto Ndtiti) and that means you’re chasing games again, rather than making sure we’re defensively solid and building a base from there.
“When you start chasing things, it makes it easier for Inverness to get in between and start passing it.
“Credit to the boys, they kept going, but I don’t feel we did enough to warrant anything from the game.”
Younger lads need to learn, says boss
Johnston knows experience is not something he’s got a lot of at Queens, but he reckons the players still need to learn fast as they toil at the wrong end of the division.
He added: “We’re a young team, but we have to handle it. That’s part and parcel of football and no one will give you a result.
“We have to make sure we turn things around and that only comes by working harder. We’re more than capable of doing it and just need to stand up and be counted when results don’t go your way.”
Cove clash is tough one for Queens
This Saturday, League One high-flyers Cove Rangers host Queens in the third round of the Scottish Cup and Johnston is wary of Paul Hartley’s side.
He said: “It is always a hard game, whether it’s the league or Scottish Cup. While it will be good to get a rest from the league, Cove will be a tough one.
“They have good some really good players and we won’t be taking them lightly. We need an improvement from Friday.”
