Danny Devine felt Caley Thistle paid the price for expecting a repeat of their Hampden stroll as they were defeated at Morton on Tuesday.
Now the Inverness vice-captain is determined to set the record straight and guide the team to three precious Championship points against Arbroath on Saturday.
A rare misjudgement at the back by Nikola Ujdur allowed ex-Caley Jags forward George Oakley in for the first goal after 20 minutes at Cappielow.
Slow reactions in the box allowed Jack Baird in to make it 2-0 to Ton late on before Adam Brooks netted a last-gasp consolation in a 2-1 slip-up.
After cruising to a 4-1 weekend win against Queen’s Park at the national stadium, this result robbed Inverness of the opportunity to move up to fifth spot as Morton climbed off the foot of the table to within two points of ICT with a game to spare.
‘We were a bit naive’ at Cappielow
Centre-half Devine pulled no punches as he reflected on a painful second defeat in 10 games under boss Duncan Ferguson.
He said: “We were not at our best.
“All credit to Morton. They came out and put us under pressure.
“To be honest, I thought we were a wee bit naive.
“Maybe we thought it was going to be similar to Saturday against Queen’s Park where we would come out and move the ball about well.
“It was the complete opposite – it didn’t happen for us.
“I just think we were caught out.
“On Saturday, the game against Queen’s Park was total football on a nice big pitch.
“On Tuesday at Morton, it was a cold night and a smaller pitch, and I don’t think we battled well enough.
“That said, we still had plenty of the ball and still had opportunities to play our football, but it just didn’t happen for us.
“The manager has said to the boys we just need to put it behind us and totally shift our focus to Saturday.”
‘Morton didn’t do anything special’
Caley Thistle did ask questions of Dougie Imrie’s fired-up Ton, but lacked the killer touch which was so evident against the Spiders on Saturday.
Devine said: “We created chances, a few in each half, but we didn’t take them.
“It was one of those nights. I don’t think our all-round play was good enough.
“Morton didn’t do anything special. They just got the ball forward and worked hard.
“Unfortunately, we conceded two soft goals that we shouldn’t have been conceding, but that’s football and we move on to Saturday.”
Sloppy goal gave Morton early lift
Morton’s 2-1 win at Arbroath last Saturday offered a huge incentive to finally move from 10th position ahead of their home clash with Queen’s Park this weekend.
Yet Devine, 31, reckons ICT should have grasped the early control to prevent offering any encouragement to their ever-improving opponents, who are gradually getting players back fit and available.
He added: “It could have gone the other way. If we started the game well, we’d have put them under pressure.
“Unfortunately, we conceded a sloppy goal and that gave Morton a lift and their crowd a lift.
“There were still opportunities for us to play our football and get into their final third, but it was not coming off on Tuesday.”
Second win of the week is the target
Devine says the players are now fully focused on trying to secure a win against Jim McIntyre’s Arbroath at the Caledonian Stadium, knowing they can go fifth with a win and an Airdrie draw or defeat at Ayr United.
The Northern Irishman said: “Wins are very important. If you can string a few wins together, it makes a massive difference.
“From fifth place downwards, the league is very tight.
“We’re bitterly disappointed and we’re looking to win on Saturday.
“If we do beat Arbroath, six points from nine this week is still a good return, even although we’re bitterly disappointed with Tuesday’s result.
“Morton’s a tough place to come to. We’ll put this behind us and look forward to Saturday and make sure we take all three points.”
