Billy Dodds reckons the potential of Caley Thistle facing Motherwell in the Scottish Cup is a big lure for his Championship leaders in their replay at Morton tomorrow.
The Inverness head coach takes his team down the A9 for their third-round tie against Morton, who sacked their manager Gus MacPherson after their 2-2 draw at Cappielow against Ayr United.
This second shot for Morton comes just a few days after ICT returned to the top of the Championship table thanks to a 1-0 win over Kilmarnock, who they replaced in first spot.
It’s been a 🔝 weekend 😎#ICTFC🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/oQJqf8br6P
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) December 4, 2021
Morton, who also host Caley Thistle in the league on Saturday, will be just as eager to earn a fourth-round trip to Premiership Motherwell on January 22.
Dodds admits it’s an attractive prize, but stressed his players must focus on getting through what could be a tough 90 minutes or more.
He said: “We know who we will face if we progress in the tie, which is a good thing.
“We will get a crack at Motherwell in the next round, which I’m sure my players would like as a chance to see where we are against a Premiership team.
“On our day we can cause an upset, but we have to look after this game first, and it’s a tough one.”
Morton still a real threat – Dodds
Despite their lowly league position, Morton under MacPherson were positive just over a week ago as Gavin Reilly’s late goal cancelled out a first half strike from Billy Mckay.
Dodds felt the Greenock side were worth their second chance in this tie.
He said: “It was one of those games where we didn’t play well in a spell, but we created chances and, if we had got a second goal, we probably would have gone through.
“Credit to Morton, they worked hard for an equaliser and they deserved a replay.”
MacPherson’s assistant, Andy Millen and reserve team coach John Sutton will assist head of youth academy Derek Anderson in taking charge of the first-team for this tie at least.
Former Inverness CT assistant boss Brian Rice has been tipped to replace MacPherson longer term.
Long way to go, despite leading way
Dodds, meanwhile, is delighted Friday’s league win over Kilmarnock was then followed by Arbroath’s 0-0 draw with Raith on Saturday to keep Caley Thistle one point clear at the top of the table.
He insists, however, it’s important to stay grounded because there’s more than half a season remaining, with plenty of twists and turns to follow.
He added: “It’s nice to be back on top.
“The way of the football world is that the target is back on us, so we won’t get carried away.
“We know what we’re good at and what has got us results, and I’ve said all along that we’ve played good football even when we’ve been beaten or drawn.
“We’ve not been beaten many times, only three this season, which is great, so it’s great to be back on top.
“We certainly want to stay there for as long as possible because it is a long season, and we know there will be ups and downs.”
