Billy Dodds hopes Caley Thistle’s weekend hosts Ayr United fire a fourth Championship blank in succession as Inverness aim to kick-start their promotion bid.
The ICT head coach takes his team to Somerset Park on the back of a 1-1 draw secured at title-chasing Dundee on Saturday.
However, their last league win came on January 7 when they thumped Arbroath 4-1 and they are seven points adrift of the top-four with a dozen fixtures remaining.
In late January, Ayr scored 5-0 and 3-0 wins against Cove Rangers in the Championship and Scottish Cup, but have failed to hit the net in their last three league outings.
League Two side Elgin City were a whisker away from winning at Ayr recently in the Scottish Cup before a late goal led to a 4-1 extra-time victory.
Dodds confident side can net victory
Dodds knows Ayr can catch fire at any time, but he’s confident his own players can deliver a second successive victory at the Honest Men’s venue on Saturday.
When asked about United’s mini-scoring drought, he said: “Hopefully we make it four this weekend.
“We’ll always create chances and score goals, but we have to defend properly.
“They are capable, looking at their game against Cove. They’ve got players who can score goals.
“They also have players that have the attitude to turn things around when things aren’t going well.
“On our day, when we’re at our best, we can beat them, but we’ll have to get everything right at both ends of the pitch.
“I really don’t want to lose the first goal again. It’s demoralising, and my team have to keep picking themselves up, so I’d like to take a lead.”
Inverness aim to draw Ayr in closer
There is clear pressure on ICT to get three points, and Dodds, who hailed the recent returns of defender Robbie Deas and forward Austin Samuels, says having a chance to defeat a direct rival is a chance they must aim for.
He said: “It’s not a must-win, but we’ve got to win it if we have any play-off aspirations.
“My target with this game is to get within four points of Ayr. That’s all.
“If we don’t win it, we’ll be looking over our shoulders the other way. It’s simple mathematics.
“As much as we’ve had all our injury problems and set-backs, and we’ve got Kilmarnock in the cup next week, this is a huge game.”
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Players’ contract talks on ice for now
Dodds, who confirmed he just missed out on a player before the loan market window closed this week, explained now isn’t the time to secure current players on longer contracts as they have to ensure they’re at least in the Championship for 2023/24.
He added: “It’s about seeing where we are at the end of the season.
“We have a few tied down, and we’re hoping to get another couple, but I don’t think now is the time to talk about it.
“With where we are in the league, we’ve got a bit of distance to the bottom two or three, but we’re trying to get into those play-offs and then we’ll have a better picture of where we are.
“Once we know that, we can make sure we get the right players tied down.”
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