Billy Dodds bemoans loss of soft goals as Caley Thistle forced to come from behind to draw with Morton

Billy Dodds bemoaned cheap mistakes which forced Caley Thistle to dig deep to salvage a point against Morton.

Inverness were twice behind against the Ton, with youngster Ethan Cairns netting a late equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw.

Errors from Zak Delaney and Wallace Duffy led to goals which put Caley Jags on the backfoot.

Although his side came back to earn a point which stretches their unbeaten league run to five matches, Dodds felt his side made life difficult for themselves.

Dodds said: “I don’t think Morton had to work hard for their goals, and that was the disappointing thing.

“It’s another two gifts, and we’ve got to stop it. It’s putting us under pressure in terms of confidence and courage sometimes on the ball.

“I can see it in the players but I’ve told them that mistakes are part of the game. It’s how you handle those mistakes.

“I thought one or two looked nervous, and it got to them. We’ve got to be better than that.

“We found a way. There were a couple of plus points. We were poor in the first half – as poor as it’s been in a long time under myself.

“We got into them and they started in the right manner with their tempo and intensity, as Morton were slowing the game down when they were up 1-0.

“We found the right people, at the right times, in the right areas.

“That’s what we are all about, but after we got our goal I thought we were going to go on and win it.

“We started doing the long balls and channel balls, instead of finding people nice and quickly.

“They got a bit of momentum back and we gift them a goal. We found a way to keep going.

“The positives were the start to the second half, and Ethan Cairns getting his goal.”

Cairns netted his first goal for Caley Thistle, having recently returned from a loan spell with Forres Mechanics.

Dodds was thrilled with the impact made by the 18-year-old, who is from Fort William, adding: “I’m delighted for him.

“The young lads have all chipped in this season at vital times when we’re up against it.

“We’ve seen Ethan today come on and get his goal, which I’m delighted with.

“We’ve seen Lewis Nicolson scoring, Matthew Strachan coming back and getting an important challenge in.

“There’s another couple of young boys who’ve got game time and they’re on the bench, eager.

“It’s brilliant – it is the DNA of this club.

“It is up to me to get them experience, in and out of the team, and then see if they can go and become first team regulars.”