Billy Dodds insists his Caley Thistle side will be treating League 2 champions Kelty Hearts with real caution in Saturday’s Premier Sport Cup opener.
The Inverness head coach and his staff have done their homework on the League 1 newcomers as the club prepares for their first meeting with the Fifers.
Kelty, now with John Potter in charge, are packed with proven, experienced players such as former ICT forward Nathan Austin, ex-Ross County striker Joe Cardle and Kallum Higginbotham, who played for Partick Thistle and Dunfermline Athletic among others.
They are a club going places, with Jack Ross’ former assistant and ex-Dunfermline manager Potter replacing Kevin Thomson last month at New Central Park.
A penalty shoot-out defeat against Stirling Albion and a loss at Cove Rangers ended ICT’s interest in the Premier Sports Cup last year, albeit with Dodds having only just taken over as the Caley Jags boss.
Boss Dodds wary – but still confident
Progression into the knockouts for the first time in six years is the goal for the Highlanders.
And Dodds knows they have to be ready for a fight for the points when they kick off their competitive season in Fife this weekend.
He said: “I know what these (Kelty) players can do. They are dangerous players, we have to nullify that, but we have good players as well.
“If we don’t approach it well, we could struggle, if we do approach well, we are capable of beating at Kelty, but we have to be at it.
“Nathan Austin and Kallum Higginbotham want to run at you and be direct and score goals.
“We have to get tight on those players and make sure we are doing those defensive jobs, because we’ve got players who can hurt them as well.”
Kelty work-rate is massive challenge
ICT will want to go into their second tie at Premiership Livingston on Tuesday with a win under their belts.
And Dodds stressed their hosts’ excellent work-rate alone makes them tough opponents before you even talk about their ability.
He said: “We’ve had our reports on Kelty and have been looking at them closely.
“The word we’re getting is they are a really hard-working team from the very first whistle and they work their socks off on every department of the pitch.
“We know all about them and the players they have and the formation they play. We have done our homework, as we always do.
“It is new to me – I have been in Scottish football a long time, but never been to Kelty. I’m looking forward to it.”
Correct attitude is key for Kelty tie
Dodds, all set for his second term in charge, insists the correct, professional attitude will be required from his players, but doesn’t doubt he’ll get that from his group.
He added: “First and foremost, Kelty have good players. They won League 2 last season at a canter.
“Like (now-Championship part-timers) Cove Rangers, they are used to winning games. They have got a good team spirit.
“When you go through some of their players, you realise they will be a handful. You add their excellent work ethic under John Potter, it means we will really have to be at the very top of our game.
“We cannot go there expecting to beat them because they are in a lower league. If we have that attitude, we will come unstuck.
“My boys, in general don’t go into games with that laid-back approach. We will be ready.”
Preparation pleases manager Dodds
Caley Thistle rounded off their pre-season games with a 6-3 closed-door win over St Johnstone, the team who beat them in the Premiership play-off final in May.
That followed on from a 10-0 rout of Clach and a 1-0 victory at Brora Rangers, and Dodds feels a similar schedule to last year will stand them in good stead.
He added: “We have tried to keep our preparations very similar to last season. We also want to get the same sort of results which gave us a really good start in the Championship last season.
“Last year, we had a really good pre-season in terms of bounce matches, but then we just didn’t play well in the group stages of the League Cup, against Stirling Albion especially, before we lost to Cove.
“We don’t want to go through that again.”
Conversation