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Caley Thistle still in chase, despite loss of key players, says head coach Billy Dodds

Inverness head coach Billy Dodds.
Inverness head coach Billy Dodds.

Billy Dodds has backed his Caley Thistle team to maintain their promotion push as he reflected on the loss of two key men in the Championship this season.

Fourth-placed Inverness ended an 11-game winless run by sweeping Arbroath aside 3-0 at the weekend and they now go to Raith Rovers on Saturday, who are one place and one point below them in the chase for the final play-off berth.

Head coach Dodds, responding to a question about the impact of injuries to top performers, admits losing midfielder Scott Allardice to a knee injury since January was a real blow.

Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds.

Michael Gardyne’s departure from the club in the New Year was also critical, with the former Ross County winger netting five goals since his summer arrival.

Danny Devine, Roddy MacGregor, Tom Walsh, Aaron Doran, Mark Ridgers and Sean Welsh have all been sidelined at some stage, which has been a challenge for one of the smaller squads in the division.

Enough quality to aim for promotion

Dodds didn’t suggest absent players solely led to the winter of winless form, but he conceded the loss of Allardice and Gardyne in particular hit hard.

However, he insists there’s enough quality within the ranks to ensure the promotion push remains on track.

He said: “Every manager will tell you, you’re going to lose players to injury and suspension and I don’t really want to make an excuse of that.

“But we have lost a couple of big ones – Michael Gardyne and Scott Allardice. They have been the two main ones for us.

Inverness midfielder Scott Allardice, right, is recovering from a knee injury.

“But do I have a big enough squad to then go and do the business? I believe I have.

“We were doing fine and then we had a run where the confidence slipped. Those players were my two big ones to lose but I’m not making excuses.”

Rivals’ run doesn’t matter to ICT

Saturday’s hosts Raith also ended an 11-match run of winless league matches at the weekend when they returned from Queen of the South with a 1-0 victory.

Dodds stressed he’s not been looking at rivals’ sequences of results because only ICT can control their own destiny in the table.

He added: “We’ve got to look at us if we’re going to make the play-offs and maybe even get back in the title race and put in a challenge.

“For the latter, we’ll have to do something crazy like the excellent run we went on last year.

“It is pointless me looking at other teams thinking ‘they’re struggling’. We have to look after our form and that’s what I’m striving to do.”

Welsh call-up delight for Pearson

On-loan Bristol City attacking midfielder Sam Pearson’s performances for ICT has been recognised with a call-up to the Welsh under-21 squad for their UEFA qualifiers against Switzerland and Bulgaria this month.

The 20-year-old, who joined ICT on January until the end of the season, has racked up eight appearances, and scored his first senior goal in the recent 1-1 Championship draw at Hamilton.

Wales under-21s face Switzerland away from home on Friday, March 25, and then tackle Bulgaria at home four nights later.

As a result, Pearson will be unavailable ICT’s home fixture against Dunfermline Athletic on March 26.