Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds reckons the players need to dig deep to rediscover their early season confidence after a 1-0 home defeat to Morton kept them third in the Championship.
ICT are now seven matches without a win, having last been victorious in the 6-1 rout of Morton on December 11.
It’s a defeat which keeps the Highlanders six points behind leaders Arbroath, who defeated second-placed Kilmarnock 1-0 on Friday evening.
Lewis Strapp got the goal for the Ton, who look revitalised under their new boss, former Caley Jags midfielder Dougie Imrie, whose side have risen from ninth to seventh spot.
Attacking intent came to nothing
Dodds, whose 53rd birthday was dulled by this result, felt the forward-thinking line-up, with Billy Mckay, Austin Samuels and Shane Sutherland up top failed to pay off.
He said: “I tried to go attacking and went with two attacking wing-backs and, I’ve got to be honest, I don’t think the shape worked as well as I thought.
“I thought we’d take the game to them, we’re not in a good place confidence-wise right now and quite a few of them just accepted it today.
“We’ll go again and we’ll look to make it happen, but the boys have got to find that within themselves as well.
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“Just do something that makes it happen for you, the ugly side of the game and then the confidence comes.
“But we’re really shot to pieces confidence-wise right now and I need to get to the bottom of it – and I will.
“But they have to show more themselves because I was expecting a really on the front foot performance today.”
This defeat comes just a week after their 1-0 loss at Kilmarnock, but they get a quick chance to get that much-awaited win in midweek when Partick Thistle come calling.
