Duncan Ferguson warns Caley Thistle must stand up to free-scoring Partick Thistle if they want to secure their second successive Championship win on Saturday.
The Inverness manager, who took over from Billy Dodds last week, got off to a flying start with a thrilling 3-2 win at Arbroath.
That first league victory of the season in Ferguson’s first match in charge lifted ICT above Morton on goal difference at the bottom of the division.
On Saturday, Partick head north, boosted by their 3-0 home victory over Dunfermline Athletic, which came on the back of a shock 3-0 defeat at Firhill by Arbroath.
The Glasgow Jags, who missed out on promotion in a stunning play-off final collapse at Ross County in June, are four points behind leaders Dundee United and three adrift of Raith Rovers.
In five-goal Brian Graham, they have the leading marksman in the league and 17 goals in their first seven outings makes them the Championship’s top scorer.
Partick displaying sizzling away form
Ahead of his first match as the ICT boss at the Caledonian Stadium, Ferguson said: “Partick Thistle are a really good team, who are scoring for fun.
“They have got a strong front three and it will be a tough game for us.
“Away from home, they have scored four at Ayr and four at Morton and then another three on Saturday at home against Dunfermline.
“They are a high-scoring team with a lot of good players. We have to be 100% right on it to get anything.”
👔 Duncan Ferguson takes to the dugout for the first time at the Caledonian Stadium this Saturday
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Manager ready for home dug-out bow
Ferguson is looking forward to sampling his first matchday at the Caledonian Stadium.
However, the target remains the same, and that is for his players to go into Saturday night as the victors.
He said: “It is exciting, but it was exciting for me last week. We are desperate for the three points, we are still joint-bottom of the league.
“We need to make sure we are focused. Partick are one of the teams up there fighting for promotion and fighting Dundee United all the way.
“They are one of the in-form teams, but we are at home. As long as the players give me everything, whether we win, draw or lose. Hopefully we will get a positive result.”
Victory raised belief within squad
Ferguson knows defeats will be part of the journey for ICT, but he believes the win at Gayfield last week proved the quality is within his group.
He added: “The morale is definitely up. There was a long period of time without a victory for the team.
“Once you get the first win, you can build upon it – people start believing they are a good team and they can win games.
“I know they had been unlucky in previous matches, so it was encouraging to me that this team were not far away.
“On Saturday, they took their chances when they had them, although we could have taken many more.
“There is momentum, but we need to continue that. We don’t know how much momentum is there, but there is certainly more belief within the squad and that comes with winning matches.
“If we can back that up with another three points, then we really are flying, but if we don’t, we are back where we were. We need try and capitalise on last week and build on it for a positive result for Saturday.”
Lively Longstaff impressed Ferguson
Winger Luis Longstaff was a thorn in Arbroath’s side at the weekend, with an early goal, and an assist for Aaron Doran the highlights.
Ferguson, when asked about the winger signed from Cove Rangers in the summer, said: “Luis did brilliantly and he got his goal. He made an assist, got down the pitch and suffered a bad knock with a lot of blood. He’s a young guy who did well.
“Everybody did well but I thought, in particular, he did well. The two strikers (Billy Mckay and Aaron Doran) nipped in with goals and goalkeeper Mark Ridgers made a save at 3-1 to keep us in the match.”
