Head coach Billy Dodds believes Caley Thistle’s younger players are rising to the challenge as senior stars are sidelined through injury.
Defenders Danny Devine, David Carson and Max Ram will miss Friday night’s Championship match at Partick Thistle as Inverness seek to move into first place going into the weekend.
A number of regulars were missing on Saturday, but that far from hampered ICT who rattled off a 4-1 home victory against Cove Rangers, for their first league win of the campaign following draws against Queen’s Park and Arbroath.
Zak Delaney slots in well alongside Robbie Deas at centre half, with Lewis Hyde impressing in Carson’s right-back role, and Cammy Harper continued to look the part of right-back.
Delaney, Hyde and Harper are all 20, with Deas the most experienced of that back-line, aged 22.
⏪ On our last visit to Firhill in May we won 2-1 thanks to goals from Shane Sutherland and Austin Samuels!
🎟️ Tickets for Friday night's match available now: https://t.co/JnSZLcJrBc pic.twitter.com/A8GoiP9Hk4
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) August 17, 2022
Good habits impressing boss Dodds
Caley Jags boss Dodds is delighted to see his less experienced players show a fearless streak as the side chase down early leadership of the second-tier.
He said: “Some of the boys that have signed are pretty young lads who haven’t had much first-team football, but my word, they went and really enjoyed the game.
“You can see they’ve got good habits. They want to do well and learn the game – along the way they’re going to make mistakes, but they were pretty solid.
“I was delighted not just with my defenders, but the way my young players in that team had to focus and make sure they didn’t fold.
“That was just as encouraging as our forward play, so I was delighted with them.”
Carson, who can switch seamlessly to midfield, will have to be watched as he played in the recent goalless draw at Arbroath, despite the pain of a back spasm.
He said: “I didn’t want to keep playing him. If you’d seen him on the Monday morning, you would understand why I didn’t pick him.
“It’s not fair on David Carson, and it’s not fair on the squad. He was sore after Arbroath, so we’re thinking more long-term where we could have him just now, but then lose him for six weeks.”
Partick will be working on defence
Partick Thistle have leaked five goals in their first three league games. They began with a 3-2 win at Dundee, salvaged a 1-1 home draw against Hamilton and lost 3-2 against Queen’s Park last weekend.
Dodds is sure his opposite number will be demanding a meaner streak when the sides meet at Firhill in Friday’s BBC Scotland TV match.
He added: “Partick are a right good team, and I’m sure Ian McCall will be telling them to get back to good defensive ways to keep clean sheets.
“It plays on your mind when you’re losing goals – it would be playing on my mind – so it’s something we’ll look to exploit but we have to play well to do that.
“I’m sure Ian will be working hard on the defensive side of their game to keep nice and solid, but with the way we played last week and the pace we’ve got we’re hoping to play through them and get in behind them.
“It will still be difficult, because they’ve good defensive players, they’ve just lost a few goals in the last couple of weeks.”
Last season, the four regular league meetings ended in one win apiece and two draws, with ICT edging Partick out in the promotion play-off quarter-finals.
Side showed mental strength in win
Goals from Austin Samuels and Aaron Doran put ICT in control against Cove on Saturday, but Robbie Leitch’s reply brought Cove back into it in the second goal.
Another cool finish from Samuels and a first competitive goal for Nathan Shaw earned the weekend’s 4-1 victory.
And Dodds was satisfied by the way the side turned on the style to see off Jim McIntyre’s visitors.
He said: “I was delighted to get a win, because it makes it a really good start to the season.
“We realised we needed a win, but the manner we got it was pretty special.
“We had to show that mental strength when they got their goal, then we got the two goals that I thought our play merited.
“I know we’re capable of playing like that, but there has to be an end product, and they gave us that.
“They did exactly what I asked of them, so it’s very pleasing. We couldn’t go into Partick in a better frame of mind.”
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