Billy Dodds reckons Arbroath’s shock title push last season shows anything is possible ahead of this year’s Championship kick-off.
The Inverness head coach is getting his side ready for a title push after finishing behind champions Kilmarnock and Dick Campbell’s part-time runners-up from Angus.
The Highlanders defeated Partick Thistle and Arbroath in the play-offs before falling short in the promotion play-off final against St Johnstone in May.
Dundee, relegated from the top-flight, are seen as the title favourites along with ICT.
Saturday’s visitors to Inverness are Queen’s Park, who came up via the play-offs, and they join League One champions in the Championship, with Dunfermline Athletic dropping down a level.
There’s a freshness to the second-tier and Dodds believes all sides – including his own – will have high hopes ahead of the action starting.
He said: “Everyone will fancy their chances when they saw what happened with Arbroath last season. A part-time team nobody expected to do well.
“They were up there challenging up until (losing) the Kilmarnock game near the end of the season. You can’t take anything for granted. But we have to look after ourselves.
“We built momentum going into the play-offs last season, and saw the fan base we had. We need to keep that going and fans turn up.
“If we play well, we are a good team. The boys are good lads, honest and look at themselves and sometimes I don’t have to speak, they know how to lift themselves.”
Adrenaline rises for league starting
Having made it out of the group stages of the Premier Sports Cup for the first time since 2016, ICT can look forward to a trip to Premiership Motherwell on August 31.
However, kicking off against Owen Coyle’s now professional Queen’s Park this weekend is one to relish.
Dodds added: “We’ve been good so far, getting out of the group stages of the League Cup, but when the league season kicks in, it gives you that extra bit of adrenaline, so we’re looking forward to it.
“I have a brilliant group of players. We have got a lot of quality. I have explained to them they are a good team and we will have teams come here to try and frustrate us. We have to find a way to figure that out and win games.”
Caley Thistle ‘in a good place’ – Dodds
Caley Thistle drew 1-1 with Jim McIntyre’s Cove Rangers last weekend in the Premier Sports Cup before coming through for a bonus-point win on penalties.
And Dodds is confident his squad are in better shape than 12 months ago when they were out of the cup not long after he had taken over as the boss.
He added: “I was desperate to get out of the groups last season and we didn’t.
“It hadn’t happened here for a long time. I have seen a couple of Premiership managers speak about the format and set-up of the League Cup competition.
“There is nothing to be taken for granted. We had less than a month off this year, but we have shown we’ve progressed as a club.
“We’re in a good place in terms of squad numbers and balance and we have good players.
“But we have to take that on to the pitch every time if we want to go where we want to go in this league.
“It will be tough, there’s no doubt about it.”
Caley Thistle, meanwhile, have introduced a new advanced ticket offer for home and away fans this season.
Costing from just £18, supporters have to buy their tickets more than three hours ahead of kick-offs for league matches at the Caledonian Stadium, which is a £2 saving from last year.
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