Billy Dodds is urging Caley Jags to repeat how they played against Partick – then add goals to turn the heat on Championship leaders Kilmarnock.
The 0-0 draw at Firhill last week was packed with quality from the visitors on a tricky pitch and the widespread view was the Inverness team deserved their third away win of the season.
Planning the Trip to Ayr United this Saturday?
🎟️ Supporters should note that Tickets are only available online. Ayr Utd have confirmed there will be no pay at the gate
🚌 ICT Supporters Travel Club Bus leaves Stadium at 9am this Saturday
Full Info👉 https://t.co/Xo8m7NsS4K pic.twitter.com/8VkrawsW6R
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 3, 2021
A missed penalty by skipper Sean Welsh along with Tom Walsh and Michael Gardyne striking woodwork had the Glasgow Jags on the ropes.
The head coach, therefore, had no areas for improvement in the early-week debrief, apart from hitting the net.
Video debrief only had highlights
Tomorrow, ICT hit the road again as they face sixth-placed Ayr United as they seek to haul in Kilmarnock, who have a two-point lead ahead of their home clash with Partick.
Dodds is calling for the same level of performance and he’s sure this time it can lead to three precious points.
He said: “I thought we were so unlucky to only take a point at Partick. I usually look for things we can do better to show the players on video.
“I also show them the positives to try and balance it and tell the truth about how the game went but I couldn’t find any negatives. Everything about the performance was great. I am just looking for the same again.
“I said we needed to get to more second balls and we spoke about doing the basics well. If we do the basics well, we are capable of playing like we did at Firhill.
“We passed the ball well and off the ball we got about the pitch and were breaking play down. When we got the ball on what was a poor pitch, we kept going at it for 90 minutes.
“We were so unlucky with the chances we created, hitting the bar and the post and missing the penalty. I can’t ask for any more, apart from winning it and getting three points.
“We are, yet again, going to have to be right at it at Ayr. We need the same level of performance as last weekend and that will take care of most teams, but if we are not up to our standards then we will drop points. I want to get back to winning ways.”
Killie now have ‘target’ on backs
While trying to catch Killie, Dodds isn’t surprised to find Arbroath and Raith Rovers just two points behind them after wins last week.
He added: “If you put a run together in this league, you can do what Arbroath and Raith have been doing. We had a target on our back when we were top, now Kilmarnock have that after putting together a good run to move top.
“We are aiming to catch them. That’s all we can do now. Arbroath beat us here, but there was nothing in the game, but getting a point at Raith and Thistle, where we should have won the game, there was still a lot of positives from those.”