David Carson insists Caley Thistle won’t hide behind an injury pile-up as they seek to arrest a five-match losing slide.
Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Ayr United means ICT have lost their last five fixtures – three in the Viaplay Cup and their opening two Championship games.
Not since 2009 when the club were in the top-flight have the team been on a run such as this.
They now must wait until visiting Airdrieonians on August 26 to try and net their first league points of the campaign.
After conceding an early goal at Ayr, scored by Francis Amartey, defender/midfielder Carson seemed to be at the heart of most of Caley Thistle’s play in their bid for a leveller.
Nathan Shaw hit woodwork in the second half, but that’s as close as they came, leaving Billy Dodds’ team yet to get off the mark in the division, along with Arbroath.
Injuries to Lewis Nicolson, Wallace Duffy, Roddy MacGregor, Sean Welsh, Austin Samuels and Robbie Thompson have sliced down the Inverness options.
It is hoped some of these players will be back for the trip to the Excelsior Stadium to take on Airdrie, but Carson insists there’s a strong enough squad to collect points.
He said: “You always pick up injuries, but, even with those injuries, we still have enough quality to win games.
“But we haven’t managed to do that. We’ve got to look at ourselves, dust it off and put the wrongs right.
“We’re in every day and we understand what each player brings to the team. We’ve got to play to the best of our abilities and strengths. Ultimately, that will get us rolling and picking up points.
“We all have to take responsibility. We are the players, first and foremost, we have got to do our tasks and at times we maybe haven’t done that.
Highlights of yesterday’s game against Ayr United are available online nowhttps://t.co/CxvgL7AmE1
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) August 13, 2023
“On Saturday, we were the team that controlled the game more, but we conceded the goal, and we faced an uphill task.
“Ayr defended reasonably well and we never got clear enough chances. I felt if we’d put one in the back of the net, we’d go on and win it.”
Carson thinks Inverness deserved point from Ayr trip
Ayr lost their opening league game 3-1 at Morton but were relieved to have beaten Inverness, having been far from their best.
For Carson, it was an opportunity missed.
He said: “Over the full 90 minutes, I’d say we deserved something from Saturday.
“We’ve conceded an early goal, which isn’t ideal. It gave us an uphill task.
“But for the last 20 minutes of the first half and for much of the second half, we were the better side.
“The chances just were not clear enough or falling well enough for us. For most of the game, we had the better spells.”
ICT need win v Airdrieonians, no matter how it comes
Carson concedes the manner of their display against the Diamonds in their next game is secondary to taking three points up the road.
He added: “We need to get off to winning ways now, no matter how that comes. We need to try and get that win as quickly as we can.
“Obviously, we’d like to do it in the right manner and play positively, but it’s not always like that in this league. We know that.
“On Saturday, we knew that wouldn’t be a pretty game and we never had clear enough chances to score.
“It didn’t happen for us at Ayr, but in terms of chances, there wasn’t a lot in it. We were the better side, but we came away with nothing.”
Diamonds will be tough side to crack
ICT have already faced newly-promoted Airdrie this season, as they lost 3-2 against them at home in the Viaplay Cup. The result ended the Highlanders’ interest in this year’s competition.
Airdrie came back from a goal down to defeat Partick Thistle 2-1 at the weekend after losing by the same scoreline against League One champions Dunfermline Athletic seven days previously.
Rhys McCabe’s side were the only team to go through the group stages of the Viaplay Cup without dropping a point and host Premiership Ross County in the second round this weekend.
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