Billy Dodds is determined to drive Caley Thistle deep into cup competitions after returning to winning ways in the Championship.
The Inverness head coach was thrilled after a deadly double from Billy Mckay earned ICT a Friday night 2-1 win at Queen of the South.
Kilmarnock’s 1-0 home defeat to Arbroath and Raith Rovers’ 2-1 win against visitors Morton on Saturday means ICT sit just one point behind front-runners Killie and Raith.
⚽ The Goals from last night's 2-1 win against Queen of the South
🎯 Billy Mckay with a brace!
Happy weekend folks! 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/0Q2b5lQkrS
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 20, 2021
This Saturday, in an all-Championship third round tie, Morton visit the Caledonian Stadium, before Raith head north for an SPFL Trust Trophy quarter-final next Tuesday.
These tussles are followed by another mouth-watering Friday fixture, as leaders Killie visit Inverness on December 3.
Full focus now on knocking out ‘Ton
Dodds expects a testing 90 minutes in the Scottish Cup from Gus MacPherson’s Morton team on Saturday, but he’s eyeing a place in round four.
He said: “Morton will be tough in the Scottish Cup, they are more than capable, and then we have got Raith in the SPFL Trust Trophy. It’s a hard couple of weeks before we play Killie, which is another Friday night game in front of the cameras again.
“Of course, after winning on Friday, I can’t wait for the Killie game now, but I just want to win every game. As well as the league matches, these cup games are important to us.
“I want us to get through this tough tie against Morton before trying to get into the semi-final of the SPFL Trust Trophy.”
🗣️ Billy Mckay gave his thoughts following yesterday's 2-1 win against Queen of the South pic.twitter.com/x1oBcndVin
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 20, 2021
Caley Jags coped with Queens’ goal
Mckay’s penalty and diving header put ICT in control in front of the live BBC Scotland cameras away to Queens on Friday before Lee Connelly’s goal sparked a late revival from the hosts.
The 2-1 win ended a five-match run without a win and keeps the Caley Jags in the mix at the top.
Dodds was satisfied to see his players cope with the situation, especially after losing a goal with 14 minutes to go.
He added: “We handled the game well and dominated in large spells, which we’ve done in games over the last three weeks. This time, we got our just rewards and saw it out, which was pleasing.
“I can’t say we didn’t deserve three points. I knew Allan Johnston and Sandy Clark (Queens manager and assistant) would push the forwards on to have a go. They had a go for the last 15-20 minutes, especially when they get their goal.
“We were 2-0 and cruising and we start panicking a wee bit when it goes 2-1. It’s human nature.
“However, I did feel we handled that part better on Friday, even though Mark Ridgers had to pull off a great save late on.
🎟️Tickets are now available for our Scottish Cup Third Round tie against Morton and SPFL Trust Trophy Quarter Final against Raith Rovers.
Info 👉https://t.co/Qfk7D0MYfo pic.twitter.com/BjsOJkXdmm
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) November 17, 2021
“It’s a natural thing when you’re not winning games, you lose a wee bit of confidence. We played so well on Friday night, led 2-0 and then Queens scored.
“You then start dropping a bit deeper and there’s a bit of anxiety, but once we got through the five-minute period after they scored and Mark made a great save, we saw the game out well. It’s a massive three points after the results we’ve been having recently.”
Players grafted for away victory
The 2-1 home loss to Dunfermline Athletic the week previously was a sore one and followed draws against Raith Rovers, Partick Thistle and Ayr United, with a home loss to Arbroath thrown in to a largely barren spell for ICT.
Dodds felt his team had deserved more from that run of fixtures, so was delighted they were able to see Friday’s win over the line.
He said: “The three games before this one, it was hard to believe we’d only taken two points. I know every manager will say that, but we deserved to take more from those. However, we haven’t got those points and it’s our fault.
“I’m just saying sometimes you can take two points from nine and you’ve not played well. That’s not been the case with us.
“It was a big week for us on the back of our most recent results, but I thought we showed we are a really good team on the ball and we worked a wee bit harder off it.”