Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds hopes Arbroath feel the heat from their manager’s title talk – while he lifts the pressure from his own toiling team.
The Inverness side are 11 matches without a win and in danger of falling out of the top four should they fail to see off Dick Campbell’s part-time high-flyers on Saturday.
After his Angus shock-troops edged to a 1-0 victory over Dunfermline last week, Campbell for the first time this term admitted his players have to now go for the title with eight games to go.
🔜
🆚 Arbroath
📅 Saturday 12th March
🏆 cinch Championship
🕒 3pm kick-off
🏟️ Caledonian Stadium
🎟️ Tickets available from https://t.co/6z5nBM5y24
📺 Match live on https://t.co/8eSzkdctwRMatch Info👉 https://t.co/RLKb6rwHjM pic.twitter.com/GocqTDwb8A
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) March 9, 2022
Until that point, the experienced boss who has transformed Arbroath from League Two strugglers to Championship-winning contenders, played down any suggestion they might be set for automatic promotion to the top-flight.
Dodds aims to focus on his own side
Dodds noted Campbell’s shift in targets and admits the visitors might need to handle the extra expectation.
He said: “Dick said last week, for the first time, they are in it for the title. You do, of course, hope that gets to his players, but I will be more focused on my own team because we’ve not been winning.
“We have to look after our own house. We have been doing that, but if we get the effort we’ve been getting, along with a wee bit of luck, we will be fine.
“We’ll need to be switched on mentally at the back and, when a chance comes our way, be determined to stick it away.”
Pressure can affect all players
Caley Thistle are without a win in almost three months but Dodds insists it’s his responsibility to ensure his charges don’t allow their winless sequence to affect their performance.
He said: “It is my job to take the pressure and let the players try and express themselves. If you are heaping pressure on the players during this current run, sometimes it can go the other way.
“I don’t want to do that. I have been at both ends, where I have won league titles but also been in relegation scraps. If you put pressure on, you can feel it.
“Players feel it, no matter how experienced they are. I try to remove that pressure from the players and try and let them enjoy their football and be competitive.
“People will say we’re losing stupid goals, but we are creating chances and not taking them. We are switching off for a second and we’ve lost goals at vital times.
“We have to eradicate that. With the competitive levels we’ve shown, if we keep doing that, we should go on and win games.”
Close encounter for final meeting?
The head-to-heads are level between these sides this season and Dodds sees no reason why that will change this weekend.
He added: “When you go 11 games without a win, you always will respect the opposition, whether they are above or below us.
“If you want an edge to a game, to start a run where you get your fair share of points, there is nothing better than beating the side right up there.
“It’s been close this season against Arbroath. They beat us by a goal here and we beat them 1-0 down there and the other match was a draw, which could have gone our way.
“I expect another close one, but hopefully we can take our chances and keep them out at the back. If we do, we are capable of beating them.”
Rivals’ troubles not considered
Like Inverness, promotion rivals Raith Rovers have also not posted a league win since December 11, although they did reach the SPFL Trust Trophy final by beating Kilmarnock.
Dodds is aware the Kirkcaldy side, who they face after Arbroath, have not been firing either, but he insists his focus must remain fully on getting his own players back to winning ways.
He added: “We’ve got to look at us. If we’re going to make the play-offs and maybe even get back in the title race and put in a challenge.
“For the latter, we’ll have to do something crazy like the run we went on last year.
“It is pointless me looking at other teams thinking ‘they’re struggling’. We have to look after our form and that’s what I’m striving to do.”
Inverness have close to a full squad to pick from, apart from sidelined midfield duo Scott Allardice and Roddy MacGregor.
Meanwhile, Caley Thistle’s away league match at Queen of the South has been switched from Saturday, April 2, to Tuesday, April 19 due to the Doonhamers’ playing in the SPFL Trust Trophy final against Raith Rovers.
📅 Match Rearranged
Our away cinch Championship match against Queen of the South will now take place on Tuesday 19 April at 7:45pm
The match has been rearranged from Saturday 2nd April as Queen of the South play in the SPFL Trust Trophy Final that weekend now. pic.twitter.com/q20wZGppvy
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) March 11, 2022