Karen Mason hailed her free-scoring Caley Thistle side as they seek to keep the Championship North front-runners within sight.
The boss of the Inverness team was delighted by the sweeping 9-0 rout of Stonehaven last weekend and she hopes the same ruthless abilities come to the fore when they go to Dundee West this Sunday.
They have hammered in 27 goals in their last three fixtures and will be hot favourites to take care of their hosts, who were hit for nine without reply at Buchan on Sunday.
Kayleigh Mackenzie helped herself to four goals, Hannah Gordon bagged a brace, with Abbey Ross, Lorna MacRae and Julia Scott also on the scoresheet against Stonehaven.
The latest sweeping result keeps ICT fourth in the table, with Montrose’s midweek 3-1 win over East Fife putting them on a maximum 21 points. ICT trail Dryburgh and East Fife by six points.
Mason explained the head-to-head showdowns between the top three will open the door for ICT, as long as they keep winning against teams below them.
She said: “The game on Wednesday was the first of the matches between the top three, so something had to give there.
“We will be looking to keep going and get the wins we need, we hope to put in better performances against the top teams and get the results which makes it more close from our point of view near the top.”
The task of catching the front-runners, however, has become tougher for ICT after Dunfermline withdrew from the league, which wiped out all results against the Fifers.
Caley Thistle were 6-0 winners against Dunfermline earlier this month, so they are now three points lighter and 12 points behind Montrose, albeit with two games in hand.
Confident of another three points
Inverness CT’s Sunday’s opponents go into this one on the back of a thrashing and Mason believes this is a real opportunity to score another victory.
She added: “Dundee West should be another targeted three points for us.
“They lost 9-0 (against Buchan) last weekend, although their first-choice goalkeeper was injured, so the result was maybe not a true reflection of that game.
“However, hopefully we can go there and they won’t cause us too many problems and we can come away with another win.”
Nicola Ross misses the trip to Dundee due to work commitments, while Jana Brady is sidelined with injury, but Tina Kelly returns to the fold to bolster Mason’s options.
Next weekend, the Caley Jags women tackle Westdyke at home before gearing up for their huge November 14 date with East Fife, also in Inverness.
FULL TIME: ICTWFC 9-0 @stonehavenlfc
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) October 17, 2021
Nine-goal rout could have been 19!
Looking back at the thrashing on Stonehaven, the manager reckons the scoreline could have been even more emphatic.
She added: “It was nine going on 19. There should have been a lot more goals, but it was pleasing to get three points and the clean sheet, although it wasn’t much competition and more like a training game.
“It does though continue our winning form and having that winning feeling further builds the confidence within the squad, which is what we need ahead of the tougher games which lie ahead. We hope that our performances continue to improve each week.”
