Karen Mason is urging her Caley Thistle Women to be ruthless in Dundee on Sunday – then hopes to still be in the chase for third spot in Championship North.
The manager of the Inverness club acknowledges the campaign has not gone to plan.
Instead of finishing in a top-two spot, they face a sweat to try and get ahead of third-placed Dryburgh with just two games remaining.
They kept that opportunity alive on Wednesday when they posted a fine 4-0 victory away to seventh-placed Westdyke as Kirsty Deans hit two, while Abbey Ross and Hannah Gordon netted one apiece.
FT Westdyke 0-4 ICT
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) April 13, 2022
Dryburgh responded with a 7-0 rout at rock-bottom Dundee West on Thursday evening to move back in front of ICT by three points and have a game in hand.
Inverness travel to basement hosts Dundee West this Sunday before their final fixture sees them face Westdyke at home on April 24.
Dryburgh are at East Fife on Sunday lunchtime then are away to Westdyke in midweek as they seek to secure third place.
Big scoreline could make difference
Mason’s side will be going for goals in Dundee to keep the pressure on Dryburgh.
The boss said: “Third place wasn’t our target at the start of the season. It was to try and get a play-off spot, so to finish third might be a slight positive to end the season on, but we done the damage ourselves in terms of a top-two finish.
“Our target is obviously to get three points from each of our last two games. We might get a chance to finish third if Dryburgh slip up.
“Trying to score a few more goals would perhaps be beneficial in case third place comes down to goal difference. We will have to see how Dryburgh do before that comes into contention.
“We have a smaller squad this weekend, so there might be an opportunity for some players who have not had much game-time to come in and get more minutes before the end of the season.”
Inverness will at least be without Natalie Bodium, Alex Andrews, Robyn Evans, Kim Jappy for their trip to Tayside.
Girls were buzzing to play once again
Looking back at their midweek victory against Westdyke, Mason was thrilled to have cleared the hurdle with a clean sheet after being without a game for several weeks due to opponents calling off.
She added: “It was a performance reflective of three weeks without a game. It was a wee bit sloppy in areas, but it was pleasing to get the result and come away with a clean sheet.
Tonight’s evening fixture in @SWFChampionship North ends @Dundeecitywfc 0-7 @Dryburghgirls – the away team head home with three points in this Dundee derby.
— SWF Championship (@SWFChampionship) April 14, 2022
“It was good just to get the game played – another one ticked off.
“The Montrose game, which was a 1-1 draw on March 20, seemed like a lifetime ago by the time we got out on the pitch.
“Playing on a Wednesday also wasn’t ideal as the girls were not going to be at their freshest after being at work and travelling, but everyone was buzzing to get playing again.
“We want to take that in to Sunday and look for an improved performance at Dundee.”
