Karen Mason is calling on her fired-up Caley Thistle team to dish out the first defeat of the season to Championship North leaders Montrose this Sunday.
The Angus side are closing in on the title, with a five-point advantage over East Fife and a game in hand.
They are 17 points clear of Inverness, who are fourth in the table, although manager Mason has reasons to believe that gulf, in reality, shouldn’t be so wide.
We welcome league leaders Montrose to Millburn Academy on Sunday for our final meeting of the season. Supporters welcome as always 🔴🔵 pic.twitter.com/CacUaGRpHU
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle WFC (@ICTWFC) March 14, 2022
Although the first meeting between the teams back in September ended in a 6-2 defeat, there was a marked improvement two midweeks ago when it was 3-1 to Montrose at Links Park.
Three set-piece goals were Inverness’ downfall in that latest fixture and Mason is confident her side can rise to the challenge when they get going at Millburn Academy at 12.30pm.
She said: “We were a lot closer to Montrose than last time around.
“They have only conceded six goals in the league this season and we’ve scored half of them.
“If we can get our defensive display right, I am confident we can cause them problems going forward.
“We would like to ruin their unbeaten run as well as get three points on Sunday. I feel we’re closer to them than the table suggests in terms of our performances.
“Being able to prove that and get three points by taking a win off them would be even better.”
Goal spree saw off Buchan on Sunday
Montrose have racked up big scorelines recently, beating Dundee West 9-0 and 19-0, Westdyke 10-0 and Grampian 12-0, so it’s clear ICT have been the most competitive against them by some distance lately.
Caley Thistle will be on a high after their rousing 8-0 rout at Buchan last weekend.
Mason was delighted by their clinical and focused display, adding: “Although Buchan were perhaps not at their best, the football we played was of a high standard, which was really pleasing.
“It was a good team performance all-round.”
Inverness are without Charlotte Arrowsmith, Lauren Donald and Abbey Ross for Sunday’s showdown against Montrose.