Inverness Athletic manager Stuart Ross is calling for consistency as the Football Times Cup finalists aim to drive up the North Caledonian League table.
The North Kessock-based club have had a rollercoaster start to their campaign, reaching the Football Times Cup final after seeing off Thurso and Bonar Bridge.
In the league, they have only four points from six matches thanks to an opening day 2-1 win against this weekend’s opponents Alness United and a draw against Clachnacuddin ‘A’.
Last Saturday, Inverness saw a 2-0 advantage in Orkney turn into a 4-2 loss, while Alness’s fixture at Halkirk was postponed due to a road closure near Golspie.
Ninth-placed Inverness are two places higher than Alness going into Saturday’s home clash, with the gap sitting at one point, and with United having played one match less.
Due to the downpours, the game has been switched to Alness from North Kessock.
Athletic squad is getting stronger – boss
Ross, who felt the first 25 minutes against Orkney was the best display from his side this term, hopes a stronger pool leads to better league outcomes.
He said: “We’ve been hampered a wee bit with injuries, a few boys playing shinty and a few others not yet available due to the Islands Games being delayed, so it has taken a while to get our full squad together.
“The last four or five games have been hit or miss results-wise, so from this week we have more boys available. We are getting a truer reflection of our squad.
“We’re looking to get a bit of consistency now and (to) push on.”
Alness are getting better, warns Ross
Athletic got the better of Alness with a 2-1 victory on the opening afternoon of the league season.
However, Ross was quick to state they had been able to prepare more fully than their hosts for that game.
He added: “Alness are improving week on week. Robert (Mitchell, Alness boss) will be working them hard behind the scenes, so this will be tough.
“They are adding to their squad with good calibre players, so we will need to be at our best on Saturday.
“We beat them 2-1 on the opening day of the season, but it probably came too early for Alness, who were perhaps not helped by the summer football running so long.
“We managed to get a few sessions and a couple of friendlies in before we played Alness, while they had no games and a couple of training sessions, so they were perhaps not quite ready.
“But we still had a job to do and Alness were still competitive – but they have improved since then.
“Hopefully we can get the win and try to kick on from there.”
‘Bit between their teeth’ in semi-final
Although league points matter most right now, Athletic are proud to be Football Times Cup finalists as they wait for the other side of the draw to catch up to confirm who they will be playing in the showpiece.
Ross, whose side saw off Thurso in the quarter-final in August, was delighted to have beaten resurgent Bonar Bridge in the semis after losing to them in the league.
He said: “Three weeks before beating Bonar Bridge in the cup, they had beaten us in the league, which raised a few eyebrows around the league, but they have have certainly improved this year under Bobby Breen.
“They were bang up for the cup-tie, having just beaten us, but our boys were superb that day. They had the bit between their teeth to reach the final, so we’re delighted.”
Inverness Athletic, meanwhile, have “reluctantly” accepted the resignations of under-18 managers Graham Linton and Chris Hunter, due to work commitments and other personal matters.
FULL-TIME SCORES IN THE NORTH CALEDONIAN LEAGUE
Golspie Sutherland 0 v Loch Ness 3 (3 p.m)
Invergordon 3 v St.Duthus 0
Fort William 1 v Clachnacuddin 'A' 1
Orkney 4 v Inverness Ath 2 #NCFA #NorthCaley pic.twitter.com/dSqOuetF2T— North Caledonian FA (@NorthCaleyFA) September 30, 2023
Weather wipes out rest of NCL card
The weekend rainfall has put paid to Clach A v Thurso, Fort William v St Duthus, Loch Ness v Halkirk and Orkney v Bonar Bridge in the league and the Football Times Cup semi-final between Golspie Sutherland and Invergordon.
