Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Caley Thistle will go ‘toe-to-toe’ with Derek McInnes’ Killie in Championship showdown

Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds has his side chasing a fourth straight win.
Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds has his side chasing a fourth straight win.

Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds is confident his players can once more go toe-to-toe with Championship favourites Kilmarnock as they target a third straight win over them this season.

New Killie boss Derek McInnes will no doubt have his side, bolstered by arrivals like Daniel Mackay on loan from Hibs and returning striker Kyle Lafferty, ready for the Highlanders at Rugby Park.

ICT, who are three points behind leaders Arbroath, are one point ahead of their hosts, having played one match more than them.

Accrington Stanlet striker Joe Hardy has joined ICT until the end of the season.The run of just one loss in eight league games is dented by four successive draws, including against Dunfermline in Fife last week.

Guts and determination can win it

However, Inverness have lost just once away from in the league this season (against Hamilton) and Dodds backs his players to once more take their top game in against Killie.

He said: “If we are at it, we have an almighty chance of getting a result and that is what brought us the two wins over Kilmarnock.

“A bit of technical ability and brilliant goal from Michael Gardyne and then a brilliant goal from Sean Welsh. But it was also so much guts and determination and handling one-to-one situation in the game.

“The one thing about games against Kilmarnock is having a big intensity about them. That will be the case on Saturday again and we will be ready for it.”

High intensity can bring rewards

Dodds stressed the importance of working and matching Killie all the way for as much of the match as they can.

In that respect, the change of manager at Rugby Park doesn’t change ICT’s outlook.

Dodds said: “Everybody has their own ideas. Tommy Wright had them well organised and we had to work hard in every department and took our chance, as we saw in the first game down there.

“In the second game against them, we were at it for the full 90 minutes. Maybe that’s what’s been missing in some games. We had 45 against Dunfermline and 60 minutes of it against Queen of the South. Can we get back to even an 80-minute spell?

“Can we get our percentages right within games? I’d love to get back to that and that’s what will bring us the surge to show we’re back at it. We’re capable of going on a run.”

Fresh shot for Killie under McInnes

One note of caution though is that those victories against Killie, Dodds feels, won’t matter as much now McInnes is in charge.

He said: “Derek will say the line has been drawn and I know they have beaten you twice. He will say his team is in a better place and have a chance if they play well.

Former Dons manager Derek McInnes is now the boss at Kilmarnock.

“But we have shown we are a good team but have to be at it for 90 minutes against Kilmarnock. That is what brought us victory against them and that is what we hope for on Saturday.”

Dodds – Win would kick Inverness on

If Inverness head back up the road on the back of a win at Rugby Park, Dodds thinks the win, which he feels is long overdue, could be a massive result in their bid for the title.

He added: “We’ve been close to getting wins and we just need a wee boost. It’s not like we’re not playing well or not having parts of games because we’re looking good.

“It would be great to get three points on the board because I really think it will kick us on.

Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds.

“There is no better place than going to Killie and doing it. A win for either side puts them in a really good place. For us, it would give us a massive nudge in the right direction.

“We’re close and a win would take us in the right direction. Draws are dropping points, but the players are working hard. We just need that extra bit of guile and if we get a win, I think we’ll surge up.”

No 0-0s in ICT v Killie league games

Over all 44 league games between Kilmarnock and Inverness, there has never been a scoreless draw and Dodds is eager to see that continue, as long as it’s in their favour.

He said: “I’ll take any win, we know how hard we have to work and take the chances come our way, the intensity Kilmarnock will bring and big crowd.

“We need to slug with them go toe-to-toe and that is what I will be demanding and know what we are capable of.”

Better news for midfielder Allardice

Last week, Dodds confirmed midfielder Scott Allardice would be out for months with a knee injury.

He will still be out for a while, but the good news is he won’t need to go under the knife.

Dodds said: “We thought Scott might have needed an operation that might not be the case, I am still positive, he will be out long term, but it is positive.”

Danny Devine, Aaron Doran and Roddy MacGregor are all sidelined through injuries, while striker Billy Mckay is touch and go for Rugby Park.

  • Caley Thistle’s away league match against Partick Thistle has been brought forward by one day to Friday, March 4, with a 7.45pm kick-off due to it being screened live on BBC Scotland.