Caley Thistle striker Billy Mckay is determined to use an off-day as motivation to sink Queen’s Park in the Championship this Saturday.
The Northern Irishman is ICT’s second-top, all-time scorer with 85. Only the 101 netted by legendary Dennis Wyness is better than that.
The experienced front-man has scored five goals so far this term, but is hunting down his first goal since the clincher in the 1-0 win against Partick Thistle last month.
Last weekend, Mckay looked odds-on to score in the 1-1 draw against Arbroath, with two decent chances in particular.
However, his finishing and decision-making was not at its usual sky-high standards and Arbroath were let off the hook.
The 34-year-old ex-Ross County striker admits he felt guilty for what was seen by many as two dropped points.
Mckay eager to sink Queen’s Park
He’s eager to make up for it in Saturday’s 5.30pm showdown against Queens at Stenhousemuir’s Ochilview.
He said: “I put a lot of responsibility for last week’s result on myself.
“I had a couple of big chances that I’d normally put away. I also had two or three more that I’d back myself to be better on.
“On another day, you get one chance and you put it in the net. Sometimes, you get four or five chances and don’t score.
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— Queen's Park FC (@queensparkfc) November 9, 2022
“I’ve not had a day like that for a long time and I’ve put that out of my mind and take the positives from it, because I got myself into the right areas. When I do that, I will score more than I miss.
“I will keep doing that, get in those key areas and score.
“At the end of the game, to me, it felt like a defeat because we had so many chances to win it. We will take the positives into Saturday.”
Mckay always rated Coyle’s Spiders
Owen Coyle’s Queen’s Park timed their run to perfection last season to come up against the odds via the play-offs from League 1.
They began life in the Championship with a 1-1 draw at Inverness in July and sit just one point poorer than ICT after last week’s 2-0 defeat at Cove Rangers.
Some might be shocked to see them make more than a fist of it, but Mckay isn’t one of them.
He said: “To be honest, Queen’s Park haven’t surprised me. I always thought they were going to be a good team in this division.
“The league is very tight and a lot of teams are beating each other.
“Looking back at that first game, we were disappointed we didn’t get three points, although we were not at our best. We did have chances and pretty much dominated the second half, but only came away with a draw.
“Sometimes draws can be positive results, but we have to try and get a win as soon as possible.”
Caley Thistle needing killer touch
Simon Murray, with eight goals from 18 matches, is the main focal point for Queen’s Park and Mckay is confident their talented opponents overall can be out-gunned at Stenhousemuir.
He added: “Queen’s Park have a number of really good players.
“But after losing to Morton recently, we spoke about how we need to be more ruthless.
“Apart from one slack moment last week against Arbroath, we were very good defensively.
“We were not ruthless enough in their box. We need to make sure we do that and be tight at the back. When chances fall, we have the players who can take them. Let’s make sure we do.”
🔜 We're away from home this Saturday as we face Queen's Park at Ochilview Park
Tickets are available online now
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Every error being punished – Mckay
Several errors against Morton a fortnight ago were key in a 4-0 Cappielow collapse.
Last week, leading 1-0 thanks to a Nathan Shaw goal against Arbroath, a misjudged header let Dick Campbell’s team in for a Kieran Shanks point-clinching goal.
Mckay insists if Caley Jags can remain watertight against the Spiders, they have the weapons to deliver the killer blows in attack.
He said: “It feels like all our errors are being punished at the minute.
“Everything’s stacking up, such as the injuries. Even in the 4-0 defeat at Morton, I didn’t feel they battered us or opened us up. We got punished for mistakes.
“As long as we can cut out these mistakes, we back ourselves to win any game. It then comes down to us, at the top end of the pitch, to be more ruthless and score more goals.”
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