Billy Dodds is urging Caley Thistle to set up a crunch Viaplay Cup weekend – by beating flawless Championship rivals Airdrieonians in their penultimate Group E tie on Tuesday.
The Inverness head coach saw his side blow several chances last week on their way to a 2-1 defeat at League Two Dumbarton.
That shock result, which followed Inverness’ 2-1 win over Bonnyrigg Rose, means it is likely they will have to defeat the Diamonds and Dundee to give themselves a chance of making it into the second round.
Airdrie backed up their 2-0 win against Dumbarton with a 1-0 victory over Premiership Dundee to lead the way in Group E with six points from six.
On Saturday, Airdrie visit Bonnyrigg Rose, with the Caley Jags rounding off the group stages at Dens Park on Sunday.
Toughest ties now for Caley Thistle
Dodds is challenging his men to breathe fresh life into their cup campaign to ensure Sunday is not a Tayside trip with nothing at stake.
He said: “If we beat Airdrie, it’s all to play for, because we’ll be sitting on the same points (with Dundee having the chance to reach six points on Wednesday).
“Before the group kicked off – no disrespect to any of the other teams – people would probably have said Dundee and ICT were the big guns.
“It will be tough in terms of us having the toughest fixture, and Airdrie have the easiest fixture (on Saturday), so they will fancy themselves regardless of the result tomorrow.
“It’s going to be tough, but we are absolutely capable of winning the two games – but we’ll need big performances.”
‘Resilient’ Diamonds impress Dodds
Airdrie player/manager Rhys McCabe’s late penalty sunk Dundee at the weekend, and it was two late goals the previous week which accounted for Dumbarton.
Dodds is impressed by the way the newly-promoted Diamonds have shown they can hold their nerve in their early-season encounters.
He said: “When I look at Airdrie and see the resilience they’ve got – they beat Dundee and then Dumbarton away – if they can keep on going and keep getting late goals, they’ve got something about them.
“That’s something we have to be wary of. They’ve got good balance to their squad, and they’ve got momentum.
“They’ll be favourites to win the group if they get a result against us, but I’m looking more at what we have to do.
“I want the boys to work their socks off and be better at both ends.
“If we can be a bit more clinical and a bit more steely, we’ll be fine.
“It hasn’t even started yet, but Airdrie are a Championship team, so we know how difficult it’s going to be.
“Can we win? Yes we can, but we’ll have to be better defensively than we were against Dumbarton.
“We’ll have to take our chances and keep a clean sheet, but if we don’t do that Airdrie will cause us problems.
“We have to make sure we’re right at both ends of the pitch. I’m okay with everything else, but we have to be a wee bit more ruthless in attack and a wee bit more solid in defence.”
Winger Longstaff can open sides up
Last week Inverness made their fourth summer signing when they added right winger Luis Longstaff, who was at Cove Rangers in the Championship last season.
The 22-year-old former Liverpool and Newcastle United youth player has signed a two-year deal and is added to the squad for Tuesday’s tie.
Dodds believes he has taken in a player with the capabilities to open opponents up this season.
He added: “I really like Luis, and since he’s come in, we have played six 10-minute games and you could see he can handle the ball.
“He’s creative and cultured – a bit like Nathan Shaw.
“I spoke to (ex-Cove Rangers manager) Jim McIntyre about him, and I think we’ve got a really good player who can be a big asset to Inverness.
“I’m expecting big things from Luis, he’s a lovely lad and I think he can do great things for the club.”
Longstaff joined full-back Jake Davidson, midfielder Charlie Gilmour and striker Adam Brooks as the latest new recruits for Inverness.
