Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds insists Queen’s Park title win would come as no surprise

Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds insists it will come as no surprise to him if Queen’s Park go on to clinch the Championship title.

Queen’s Park have a five-point lead at the top of the table with just eight games remaining, albeit second-placed Dundee have a game in hand.

Should the Spiders maintain their current position, the Glasgow outfit would clinch a third successive promotion having played in League Two as recently as 2021.

Dodds has been impressed with the way this weekend’s opponents have carried on their upward trajectory since the early stages of the season.

He said: “They have grown as the season has gone on. The first game of the season here, I thought they weren’t a bad team.

“After that they took a couple of beatings, but they have grown as a team. They have realised they can hurt people, they have real pace up front and defend from the front.

“They are a good team and I think they will be there at the death.

“You see the type of players they can sign such as Euan Henderson, Connor Shields, and I know they lost Simon Murray.

“You shouldn’t be surprised, they have Willie Haughey putting money in there which always helps.

“They are a good unit and a team to be reckoned with.

“I am not saying they are going to, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they go on to win the league.”

Dodds looking to inflict blow to Spiders title hopes

Inverness have yet to get the better of Owen Coyle’s men this season, with two draws at Caledonian Stadium and a 2-1 victory for the Spiders in their last Ochilview meeting in November.

Although Queen’s Park triumphed 2-0 when the sides met in the Scottish Cup in January, the inclusion of ineligible Euan Henderson saw them eliminated from the competition.

Caley Jags have since progressed to the semi-finals, and will face Falkirk at Hampden Park next month.

Although he is wary of the threat posed by this weekend’s opponents, Dodds insists his side is capable of reversing that trend.

He added: “There have been a few teams who have been an attacking threat, such as Dundee and Queen’s Park.

“That is no disrespect to other teams, but they both have the squads to attack people.

“That’s why Queen’s Park are top. They cause teams loads of problems, they go all out attack but that can leave them vulnerable in other areas and that is what we want to try and exploit.

“That’s the way we have tried to play against them all season.

“We don’t run scared of them, we have been competitive against them and had great chances against them in vital times of the games.

“We can beat Queen’s Park, but they can beat us if we are not at it.”