Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds is reading nothing into Raith Rovers’ midweek loss – and is urging his side to be on their guard as they step up their late promotion bid.
In Championship and Scottish Cup games, Inverness have won four of their last five and are aiming to defeat Rovers and all but put them out of play-off contention.
The Kirkcaldy team, bossed by Ian Murray, lost 2-1 against relegation-threatened Hamilton on Tuesday night, leaving them one place and one point behind ICT, who are sixth.
Back-to-back victories over Partick Thistle and Morton mean ICT are seven points away from the top-four.
Thistle’s shock 4-0 win against inconsistent leaders Queen’s Park means Ayr are the side now in fourth spot.
If Inverness win their game in hand against Arbroath on Tuesday, they can made further advances with what will then be just four league matches remaining.
Patience could be vital against Rovers
However, for that to become a possibility, they must defeat a Raith team which Dodds stresses have threats, despite four defeats in their last six outings in all competitions.
He said: “Raith are a good team. I watched their game against Queen’s Park and they had loads of chances.
“I watched them during the week against Hamilton as well, so you can see they’re struggling for a wee bit of consistency.
“They could have gone above us, and I really like the way Ian sets up his team.
“They’re hard to handle at times because they move the ball well, but they move when they don’t have it as well.
“They cause teams problems, so we’re going to have to put in the same sort of performances we did against Morton and Partick.
“We might have to be patient at times, because we know they can be a threat, but we know where we are as a club.”
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Caley Thistle are back in contention
From Raith, in seventh, all the way up, clubs will fancy their chances in these closing five or six matches to nail a play-off position.
Caley Thistle, who lost to St Johnstone in last year’s play-off final, are in sparkling form at the perfect time.
Dodds is cautiously optimistic that his players, who face Falkirk in the Scottish Cup semi-final on April 29, can deliver another shot at promotion.
He said: “You can’t guarantee anything in this division.
“It’s so up and down, but anybody who puts a run together – and we’ve started to – will be in it.
“We looked out of it for a wee while, but my players have responded brilliantly again to get into a position where if we handle the run in properly, we’ve got a great chance.”
Players are handling heat ‘brilliantly’
The Inverness manager explained his determined squad are demonstrating how they can handle the heat in matches they must keep winning.
He added: “I think they have shown their mental strength already.
“With the games we’ve had and the points we’ve had to take – and I include the Scottish Cup win over Kilmarnock – we’ve handled it brilliantly.”
On-loan St Mirren midfielder, who came off injured early against Morton on Saturday, has a chance of making it against Raith, as does defender Danny Devine, who has been sidelined in the past fortnight.
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