Karen Mason admits Caley Thistle must chase maximum points away to SWF Championship pace-setters Livingston this Sunday to stay in the title hunt.
The Highlanders are all set for their first visit to the Tony Macaroni Arena, the home venue of the men’s and women’s Livi sides.
Inverness travel with confidence, having won three on the spin, including Sunday’s 3-2 home success against Dryburgh Athletic.
The surge up the division means Mason’s fourth-placed high-flyers are eight points away from their hosts and have played one match more.
It’s a first visit for us to the Tony Macaroni Arena on Sunday when we visit @livingstonwfc in a Championship fixture 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/ddXYbzq7AK
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) November 7, 2022
This is the sole Championship game this weekend, with Livi looking to strike back from their Scottish Women’s Championship Cup quarter-final 2-1 defeat at home to Rossvale at the start of the month.
Livingston’s away league fixture at Hutchison Vale last weekend was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, meaning their last Championship match was a 4-1 cruise at Ayr United on October 23.
Only the best will do for ICT at Livi
Mason knows, with four defeats from 10 games, they cannot afford any slip-up and must go for the win away to the leaders, who won 3-2 in Inverness in September.
She said: “It’s nice to get another stadium to tick off the list for the club.
“Livingston, being the league leaders, are the side everyone is trying to beat at the moment.
“We’re hoping we can put on a better show this Sunday than we did when Livingston visited us. We need to make it a competitive.
“We’re expecting a stern test. They’ve only lost one (league) game this season. We know we will have to be at our absolute best to take anything from it.
“They’ve not played a league game for a while, so they’ll be buzzing to get back out there and put their cup upset behind them.”
@SWFChampionship action this week as Livingston WFC welcome @ICTWFC to West Lothian for the first time.
LET'S GO! pic.twitter.com/Y9pM8Z7Qqh
— Livingston WFC (@livingstonwfc) November 8, 2022
Too many shed points for ICT – boss
Mason stressed the season is now at the point where there are no second chances if they leave Livingston on the back of a defeat.
She said: “We had the first round of games when we were getting to know our opponents.
“Mistakes were almost forgiven at that stage. However, after our recent run of wins, if we’re thinking seriously about promotion and mounting a challenge, this is a game we really have to get points from.
“We’ve let too many points slip, so this weekend really is a vital three-points game for us.”
Game management must improve
Despite scoring three wins from three, manager Mason is well aware they must sharpen up this Sunday to have a chance.
She added: “The results are going our way and, I think, deservedly so.
“There’s still plenty to work on and brush up on to help us when we go into the more difficult games.
“I’d say we still need to work on our game management. Last weekend, we were 3-0 up and by the end of the match it was nervy because we’d given away some silly fouls and given Dryburgh opportunities to get goals back.
“After a couple of clean sheets, we need to get back to being more defensively solid and we need to be finding the net a whole lot more than we’re doing.”
Kirsty Deans is expected to be missing for the visitors to West Lothian after picking up an injury against Dryburgh a couple of weeks ago, while Nicola Ross is unavailable. The action starts at 12.45pm.
Chance for Westdyke to join leaders
In League One, Westdyke, who are three points adrift of leaders FC Edinburgh, are home to mid-table BSC Glasgow at 2.45pm.
With FC Edinburgh on cup duty, Westdyke will join them on 25 points if they get the win.
Grampian Ladies, in fifth, host St Mirren, who are only behind them on goal difference. Kick-off at Banks o’ Dee is at 4pm.
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