Shoot-out hero Mark Ridgers is calling on Caley Thistle to take their unbeatable Premier Sports Cup form into the Championship when it kicks off on Saturday.
The goalkeeper saved a Fraser Fyvie spot-kick, which lined up Scott Allardice to seal a 5-3 penalty showdown win against Cove Rangers at the weekend.
Jim McIntyre’s Championship newcomers more than held their own, with Mitch Megginson wiping out a Roddy MacGregor header in the first half for a 1-1 draw.
The bonus-point victory took ICT on to 11 points, which meant they won Group G, finishing two points clear of Premiership Livingston, and set up a last-16 clash with Motherwell at Fir Park.
PENS: 5-3
Scott Allardice's penalty wins the bonus point!
GET IN! pic.twitter.com/b5t9zIore0
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) July 23, 2022
Inverness had beaten League 2 champions Kelty 1-0, top-flight Livi 2-1 and Albion Rovers – of League 2 – 4-0 to take pole position in the ground ahead of the Cove game, meaning they needed only one point against Cove to win the section and go through for the first time in six seasons.
It’s now all eyes on this coming weekend as the Championship campaign starts with the home clash against Owen Coyle’s Queen’s Park, who finished third in Group H behind Dundee and Hamilton.
Despite not making it through, the Spiders, who were promoted via the play-offs in May, have been playing well lately and will arrive in the north all guns blazing and with big intentions overall.
Ridgers sees no reason why their first opponents of the league season won’t be aiming for a top four spot.
ICT aim to live up to favourites tag
However, he welcomes the challenge for ICT after reaching the Premiership play-off final against St Johnstone last term.
He said: “Queen’s Park have a strong squad and have been playing really well. They’ve got a good manager.
“They are new to this league, but they have got a lot of money behind them. They will come in and expect to reach the play-offs, as will several teams.
“It’s really open this season, so we have to be wary. However, if we continue to play as we have during the League Cup, then a lot of teams will fear us.
“Some teams are calling us the favourites – we have to live up to that throughout the season if we want to achieve what we set out to do.
“It will be great to hopefully get the crowds back in more when the league starts.
“They were terrific, especially towards the end of the season, it really pushed everyone on. For us to achieve what we want, we will need them again.”
Tunnel vision needed in shoot-out
Some of the Cove penalty-takers reacted to the boos from the home crowd before and after scoring their spot-kicks.
Ridgers says it was vital to think only of the task in hand, which he did by pulling off his save.
He said: “With penalties, you just have to try and save one and hope the boys do the rest.
“I’m experienced enough now and faced many penalty shoot-outs, so you just focus.
“I actually thought Shay Logan might try a wee dink down the middle to get at the crowd. That’s why I stayed that bit longer, but it was good to see us get through.
“I was happy to contribute, but I was just happy overall by how well we’ve done in the group.”
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