Caley Thistle forward Shane Sutherland reckons part-time Arbroath are firmly in the title race as the top five in the Championship up the ante.
A week on Friday (December 3), Inverness and Kilmarnock go head-to-head in the latest live BBC Scotland TV clash, with ICT poised to go two points clear of Killie and joint leaders Raith Rovers should they win.
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Front-runners Killie, who dropped out of the Premiership with Hamilton last season, are the faltering favourites for the title, with home defeats against promotion rivals opening the door to chasers.
Dick Campbell’s Arbroath won 1-0 at Rugby Park on Saturday to haul themselves to within two points of top spot.
The Red Lichties are fifth in the table, with in-form Partick Thistle, who have posted a club record six clean sheets on the spin, just ahead of them and only one point poorer than ICT.
It’s a fascinating contest, with Arbroath a whopping 14 points ahead of a resurgent Dunfermline Athletic, led by John Hughes, whose 3-0 win over Ayr United shot them from bottom spot to sixth.
Arbroath effective under Campbell
Sutherland scored the only goal away to Arbroath on the opening afternoon of the Championship season on July 31, but the Angus men posted a 1-0 win of their own when they came to Inverness last month.
He said: “Everyone talks about Kilmarnock because they are top, but Raith Rovers and Partick Thistle are going really well and I’d say you write off Arbroath at your peril because they are a right good team.
“They are part-time, but they have a great manager in Dick Campbell and a squad that has been together for a long time. They are effective and they’re not going to go away, so it’s a strong top five.
“There is a big split (of 14 points) between the front five and the other clubs, but there is a long way to go this season and a team from the bottom five could still drag themselves into contention for the play-offs.”
Linking up well with Billy Mckay
Sutherland, who returned to the ICT side after a month out with injury in Friday’s 2-1 win at Queen of the South, linked up well with Billy Mckay, who bagged a brace that night.
It was the 31-year-old forward’s first outing since the 1-1 draw at Raith Rovers on October 23 and he felt if he had been playing weekly he would have helped the team post a more convincing result.
He added: “I watched that game back and I felt Billy and I linked up well together. Earlier this season, I was playing up front with Manny Duku, while Billy had his injuries.
“Billy has come into the team and I’ve had my wee injuries problems recently, but there were good signs against Queen of the South.
“Billy got his two goals and I had a couple of chances I could have scored from, so we could both have been walking away with a couple of goals each.
“It was frustrating to miss out on four games with the team going through a sticky run, although the performances have been good. I just had a couple of ongoing injury issues, nothing to worry about, but enough to keep me out.
“Had we been a bit more clinical, and I include myself in that as I had a couple of good chances, we could have had a more comfortable result.
“Had I been playing recently, I might have taken one or two, but it was a good three points for us, especially with the way results went for us that Saturday.
“Overall, the team worked well together, including off the ball. A lot of hard work gets put in, which at times goes unnoticed by people.
“It’s important though and gives the defence a break at times as we take the ball in for five to 10 seconds and get the defenders up the pitch and help the midfielders out when we can.”
Before facing Killie next week, ICT host Morton in the third round of the Scottish Cup on Saturday before taking on Raith Rovers in the SPFL Trust Trophy on Tuesday night.
