Billy Dodds isn’t reading too much into Raith Rovers goal drought – but hopes the Caley Jags can make it another blank afternoon for them in the Championship on Saturday.
It’s second against third at the Caledonian Stadium and a close contest is expected, with Rovers one point below ICT, who drew 0-0 at leaders Arbroath on Sunday.
The Kirkcaldy side, who last won a league game against Inverness in 2000, have netted just one goal in their last six matches.
However, they bolstered their attacking options on Thursday by signing Hibs striker Jamie Gullan on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
That follows the loan signing of Scotland under-21 midfielder Ben Williamson from Rangers and ex-Dundee United and Hibs central player Sam Stanton.
Rovers remain dangerous – Dodds
Inverness head coach Dodds is sure John McGlynn’s team will have enough about them to make it a testing 90 minutes.
He said: “The one thing about Raith is they like the little ball players and retain possession and that is the way John coaches and it has rubbed off.
“To be where they are is excellent and they will be hoping to push for the title. He is trying to find a couple of strikers, they have not scored a lot of goals in the last few weeks, but that does not make them any less dangerous.
“They have played well and scored goals and we can’t let them get their confidence up. They have not the right results in recent weeks, but it is up to us to make sure that last another week longer.”
Packing punches against main rivals
Caley Thistle have taken four points from Raith this season, but lost on penalties to them in the SPFL Trust quarter-finals in November.
None of ICT’s rivals in the top five have got the upper hand on them this term and Dodds wants his players to build upon that record.
He said: “We have always handled it well play against the nearest challengers, that is what we’ll call them because there are other good teams in this league. But we’ve handled the bigger games well and hope that continues.
“Raith have drawn one and lost two in three games. They are still a force to be reckoned with but it is a home game and we will be trying to get the three points which would be a big boost for us.
“John has chopped and changed it, he played a three at the back in the first game against us and then went to a four in the next game in a 4-2-3-1.
“On Saturday (in the 0-0 draw with Dunfermline), he played a diamond in midfield so we have plenty to ponder about how we approach it.
“They are a dangerous team and we have to approach it properly.
“We want to be up at the top of the table and we are in a good position right now.
“We talk about the five teams who have broken away and if you slip up teams will go past you.”
Dodds is happy with the players he has available for the Rovers clash, but confirmed winger Aaron Doran is out for two weeks with a thigh injury.
ICT ‘actively looking’ for signings
The Inverness boss, meanwhile, is looking to add to his squad, with wide midfielder Michael Gardyne released this week.
He said: “We are working away with it and we are trying to do something.
“January is a tough window and it has to be right for us. We have a good squad but we are actively looking to do something.”
Successful windows at Ross County
Dodds pointed to successful transfers when he was the assistant manager at Ross County and hopes to be successful with any new signings at ICT.
He added: “We want to do the right business because we know how tricky a window it is.
“When I was at Ross County, Jim McIntyre and I worked to get the right ones in and we were lucky where we had good January transfer windows and it gave us a lift, if we do business here, I hope it will give us the push to sustain the title challenge.”