Karen Mason expects her Caley Thistle side to come out the traps flying on their return to action in Championship North away to Buchan on Sunday.
Since the Inverness team began their league campaign with a disappointing 2-1 defeat at East Fife on August 15, they have had two weeks out of action.
Their first home fixture of the term against Dryburgh Athletic – which was set to be played at the Caledonian Stadium – was postponed due to the visitors having a positive Covid case.
Then last weekend, the Caley Jags had a bye in the Championship Cup first round.
So, the players are eager to face a Buchan team who have lost their first two matches and get their league season off and running, although last weekend’s training didn’t go as smoothly as planned.
Mason said: “We have had a bit of a Covid battle ourselves with players waiting for others to get test results, so that meant we were low in numbers in terms of training.
“It wouldn’t have affected us for a squad had we a game, but being without another game took away some of the early momentum for us.
“It’s a long two weeks when you don’t have a game on Sundays. The tempo at training has been good this week, so I can’t complain about that.
“It’s a case of getting ready now for Sunday. We wanted to put the wrongs right from our first game when we played Dryburgh, but it’s like that’s totally forgotten about and we’re starting afresh.
“We can focus on this game for all the right reasons. Anyone in this league can pull off a shock result in any given week and Buchan may well not have had players available due to lots of unforeseen circumstances too, so they might well have a stronger team for us on Sunday.
“We’re always wary. We can’t expect to go anywhere and win without putting in full effort and playing to our potential. That’s something we will try to ensure we do.”
Two missing out for Caley Thistle
The Caley Jags will be without Megan McCarthy, who is going to train as a firefighter and will be unavailable for at least 13 weeks, while Emily Twaddle is away at university, so is not in the weekend’s squad.
On Monday, ICT were paired with Championship South side Falkirk in the second round of the Championship Cup.
Falkirk, who are 13th in their division after one win and two defeats, saw off United Glasgow 3-2 after extra-time on Sunday to line up a trip to the Highland capital on Sunday, September 19.
Mason will be doing her homework on their opponents over the next couple of weeks.
She added: “It was nice to get a home tie. It cuts down any added miles for us.
“We played Falkirk a few years ago now when they were in the same division as us, but they are now in the Championship South.
“We don’t know too much about them over recent years, but it’s one we’re looking forward to and will hopefully get a result from to progress into the next round.”
Highlands and Islands Cup semis
This Sunday is semi-finals day in the Highlands and Islands Cup, with Caley Thistle’s development team taking on Clach at Canal Park and Sutherland facing Caithness at Couper Park, Helmsdale. Both ties start at 2pm.
Last weekend, in the Highlands and Islands League, lCT’s development team hit 13 without reply against Brora Rangers, Clach romped to an 11-0 triumph in Orkney and Nairn St. Ninian and visitors Caithness shared four goals.
