Caley Thistle Women boss Karen Mason believes every game in the SWF Championship presents itself as a clean slate for her side.
Inverness’s two-game unbeaten run came to an end last weekend with a 3-1 loss against Ayr United in Cumnock.
Mason’s side were 1-0 up at the break but Ayr scored three second-half goals, including with the last kick of the ball, to secure all three league points.
And while the Caley Jags boss was disappointed with the result, she says this weekend’s away clash against Rossvale is a fresh opportunity for her players to put on display they can be happy with.
Inverness have struggled to name a consistent starting XI due to injuries and player availability this season and Mason will be without a number of key players again on Sunday.
We are on to our 6th away game of 2023 already…we have forgotten what it’s like to play at home 🚌 pic.twitter.com/a4paSmeS4Q
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) February 20, 2023
Mason said: “We’ve said for a while now that it has to be every game as it comes.
“We’ll have a different squad on Sunday so we can’t really go back to last weekend and build on that because the team will be totally different. It’ll probably be four or five different players in the starting XI.
“We have to just take each game as it comes. There are still mistakes which are proving costly, and we need to improve on that as a collective, but the spirit and fight has been better.
“The most important thing is we have to keep trying to make improvements and make sure we don’t make life easy for Rossvale.”
Inverness want to cause an upset
Rossvale are currently second in the third-tier table and sit seven points behind leaders Livingston, while Inverness are 17 points behind this weekend’s opponents and sit in fifth.
Mason says her side are happy to play a part in the title and promotion drama by causing upsets – which she hopes they can do against Rossvale.
She said: “Rossvale are fighting to close the gap with Livingston at the top end of the table, so they’ll be wanting to keep their promotions hopes alive.
“Our promotion hopes are long gone so if we can go and cause an upset elsewhere, then we can use that as motivation.
“We’ve won one and lost one against Rossvale and they’ve been high-scoring games, so we know they can’t be taken lightly.”
The other north fixtures
In SWF League One, this weekend throws up a north-east derby as Westhill side Westdyke make the short journey into Aberdeen to play Grampian at Spain Park.
Following both teams’ respective defeats last week, where they each moved down a place in the table, they will be looking to bounce back with a victory to boost their bid for promotion.
In Biffa SWFL North, Inverurie Locos will be hoping to extend their winning run to four games when they host Dyce at Harlaw Park.
Huntly will be looking for their first win in three games when they travel to Stonehaven, while Buchan will be looking to bounce back from their defeat against Dyce when they are on the road against Dryburgh Athletic.
At the foot of the table, Westdyke Thistle and East Fife will be vying for their first points of the campaign as they meet for the first time this season in Westhill.
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