First-team coach Barry Wilson believes Caley Thistle’s renewed killer touch has come at the ideal time as they push to seal a play-off place in the Championship.
A barren, three-month spell without a win was recently turned on its head with a sparkling 3-0 show against title contenders Arbroath.
A nervy day in Fife then saw Logan Chalmers strike twice late on to seal a last-gasp 3-2 victory at promotion rivals Raith Rovers.
Then, on Saturday, a sublime Reece McAlear strike and a first club goal for Austin Samuels gave the Highlanders a 2-0 win over former boss John Hughes’ Dunfermline Athletic.
With scheduled opponents Queen of the South in SPFL Trust Trophy final action against Raith this Sunday, ICT have a free weekend and return next Saturday away to Ayr United.
Club legend Wilson reckons punishing teams when on top in the past few weeks has led to the reward of a five-point lead over fourth-placed Partick Thistle with five games to go.Wilson said: “The main thing is we are scoring goals again. That’s now eight in the last three games. We’re beginning to click once more going forward and now is a good time to do it.
“Saturday was really pleasing, because the all-round performance was excellent. Apart from 10 minutes after we scored, we dominated and passed the ball well and created plenty of chances.
“We hadn’t beaten Dunfermline all season, so we knew it would be tough, but it was a good performance pretty much from start to finish, apart from that 10-minute spell.”
Coaches kept faith amid barren run
Wilson explained that, despite their period without a victory, boss Billy Dodds and the coaching staff always believed it would turn, because the team remained competitive even when results were not going for them.
He said: “To go 11 games without a win wasn’t great and we knew that, but it was not as if any side was turning us over.
“We were losing by the odd goal and we were drawing games too. For whatever reason, despite how well we played, everything seemed to conspire against us.
“We then got a great result against Arbroath, which was followed by a fighting performance at Stark’s Park when we produced three points when it looked like we were not going to get any.
“The last two home performances have been really good. That augurs well for these last five games and gives us extra confidence.
“However, confidence can arrive quickly, but it can leave just as quickly, so we need to try and maintain our form as much as we can in the last five fixtures.
“We’re happy with how we’ve reacted. There was relief after beating Arbroath, because it broke the run we were on, then there was the euphoria after turning the game around away to Raith Rovers.”
Praise for Mackay after vital stops
ICT keeper Cammy Mackay, who has nudged Mark Ridgers out of the team in recent weeks, was a key figure when it mattered against the Pars.
He pulled off two strong stops in the second half as the Fifers pressed for a leveller and his display shot him into the SPFL team of the week.
Wilson feels the shot-stopper delivered the goods when it mattered.
He added: “Those were big saves at big times. We had just gone 1-0 up and Cammy hadn’t had too much to do until Dunfermline threw men on when we scored. Goals change games and, for 10 minutes, they caused us a bit of bother.
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“That’s when you need your key players to step up and Cammy did just that. It was a great save with his foot from big Toddy (Nikolay Todorov) then he got across the goal quickly to block another chance at the back post.
“It allowed us to hold on to our lead and then go on to get a second goal.”
💪 Two big saves from Cameron Mackay when called upon on Saturday pic.twitter.com/0G1AslKGMW
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