Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds will lift his players to such a level they can be tough opponents for Premiership hosts Motherwell in the Premier Sports Cup on Wednesday.
A 1-0 home Championship loss to Morton on Saturday came eight days after a 4-1 league defeat at Partick Thistle, which pushed ICT down to eighth position.
Well’s new manager Steven Hammell began life in the Fir Park hot-seat with victories over Aberdeen and Livingston, but fell to a 2-1 reversal at Kilmarnock at the weekend.
Inverness, who have experienced players such as captain Sean Welsh, winger Tom Walsh and striker Shane Sutherland sidelined through injuries, are relying on younger lads at times to dig out results.
🎟️ Tickets are available now online for our Premier Sports Cup Last 16 match against @MotherwellFC
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— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) August 24, 2022
Before the last two games, Dodds’ team were unbeaten and reached the second round of the League Cup for the first time since 2016.
Dodds determined to defeat ‘Well
So, while disappointed with back-to-back losses, the head coach doesn’t see their midweek trip to Motherwell as a mere bonus shot before visiting Raith in the league this weekend.
He said: “I don’t do free hits. I want to go there and progress, try to beat them.
“When we’re in full flow, we’re capable of getting a result against Motherwell.
“I’m going to go there and hopefully we can really give them a good cup tie.”
Lifting the mood ahead of cup clash
The Caley Jags scored a fine 2-1 victory at top-flight Livingston on the way to winning Group G last month.
And Dodds admits he’s lifting the mood of his squad, to ensure their heads are up before kick-off at Motherwell.
He said: “The one thing we had against Livingston was we were in a more confident mood.
“That has slipped a bit after losing to Partick Thistle and this is another wee dent.
“Now we’ve got to pick up and go the other way, because we know we’re capable of stringing together a run of results.
“We have to show a stronger mentality when things are not quite going our way.”
“We have lost confidence. There are a lot of young boys in this team and I’m trying to help them by giving them encouraging shouts and get them going.
“We have got to realise the potential, but also the age of them and that they are vulnerable at times.
“We can do better than we did on Saturday. And we have the players to get at Motherwell and we’re going to have to work hard.
“If things go against us and we’re not getting a fair percentage of the ball within the game, we have to make sure we dig in and we’re ready for the battle.”
Dodds backs young team ‘to grow’
The ICT manager explained how his side, who lost against Morton due to a late Grant Gillespie penalty in a game low on quality, have to show battling qualities at times when it’s not a pretty contest.
He added: “As much as we’re disappointed with our last two results, we’re a team that can grow and we have to start growing, and soon.
“I don’t think we believed at times on Saturday. My front-line have to make sure they work their back four more because we played an attacking formation, but we didn’t.
“It wasn’t just the front-line. We have to pick up second balls and do the dirty work.
“In this league, it would be great to win 3-0 or 4-0 and play attractive, free-flowing football, but this league is about percentages, and in 75% of games you just have to battle and be strong.”
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