Scott Allardice is calling on Caley Thistle to learn from being more ruthless in Dumfries to fire up their season in the Championship and cup competitions.
Billy Mckay’s brace put ICT 2-0 up against Queen of the South and it meant the concession of a Lee Connelly goal late on, didn’t stop them winning their first match since beating Morton on October 16.
It halted a five-fixture slide without a win and keeps ICT firmly in the promotion hunt at the top end of the table.
🗣️ "I thought we deserved it tonight. I thought the boys gave me everything."
ICTFC Head Coach Billy Dodds gives his thoughts following tonight's 2-1 win against Queen of the South pic.twitter.com/zk8HIWoogo
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 19, 2021
Midfielder Allardice felt the result was a reward for their hard efforts and underlined the importance of finishing teams off when on top, something they’ve failed to do lately.
He said: “We deserved the win on Friday. We got the two goals and they got their goal when they had a spell.
“For 10-15 minutes, it was a wee bit rocky, but we had built ourselves a cushion this time and that was the difference.
“Throughout the team we had chances, even from myself. We need to start taking more of them, but we had that two-goal advantage and that allowed us to see it out when they scored their goal.
“It has been frustrating to not get the results recently. We have been playing for good spells within games, but not going 3-0 or 4-0 up when we probably should be.
“If teams get their spell and goal, their tails go up and in the past few weeks we haven’t seen it out, but thankfully we did against Queens.”
66' | 0-2
Close! Doran's corner finds Allardice on the edge of the box and his header is inches wide of the post!
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 19, 2021
Over the next few weeks, Caley Thistle host Morton in the third round of the Scottish Cup this Saturday, host Raith Rovers in the last eight of the SPFL Trust Trophy then face Kilmarnock in the league on Friday, December 3.
Win was ‘big step in right direction’
Allardice hopes the long-awaited victory can spark an upturn in results.
He added: “Friday was a big result for us. It stopped that run of not winning games which we probably should have, so it was a big step in the right direction.
“We want to build on that momentum and grind out more results. At this time of year, the games might not be as pretty, but if we get the results, they might be the most important ones.”
Allardice keen to get on scoresheet
The 23-year-old former Dundee United youth ace almost netted a third goal for ICT when his header flashed just wide when he met an Aaron Doran corner.
He explained head coach Billy Dodds believes his going to hit the net sooner rather than later.
He said: “We had been working on set-pieces and the gaffer keeps sticking with me. I don’t know why because I’ve not scored from one yet.
“It was dipping and I maybe should have done better, but hopefully I will be trusted to go again. It was a header, but I might have been better off volleying it.”
Cup run high on ICT agenda
Allardice, who joined Inverness last year from Irish side Waterford, is relishing the chance to help the Highlanders push on in cups before locking horns with Killie.
He said: “We want to go on a Scottish Cup run. We had a decent run last season when we beat Ross County and were unlucky at St Mirren. #
🎟️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
“After that, we have Raith in the Challenge Cup. We want to go far in these competitions as well as do well in the league. We have a few good fixtures to look forward to.”
