Caley Thistle captain Sean Welsh apologised for the team’s second Firhill mauling of the season and branded their latest defeat unacceptable.
Welsh played his first game in over a month on Friday as they crashed to a 5-1 Championship defeat against Partick Thistle following a 4-1 defeat there in August.
It was only the skipper’s sixth outing in what is turning into a nightmare season where injuries to key men have had a major bearing on their sore scores.
Fresh injuries take their toll
He returned to the team, as did defender Zak Delaney, but Danny Devine, Cammy Harper and Nathan Shaw dropped out to take the casualty list back to nine.
The result, which sits alongside the 4-0 loss at Morton as the biggest margin of defeat this term, means ICT are only two points ahead of Cove Rangers ahead of next Monday’s New Year north clash at the Caledonian Stadium.
Overall, Inverness still have nine players sidelined with injuries – defenders Devine, Harper and Robbie Deas, midfielders Roddy MacGregor and Scott Allardice, wingers Tom Walsh and Shaw and strikers Shane Sutherland and Austin Samuels.
Goals from Brian Graham and Kyle Turner had Partick 2-0 ahead at the break before Cole McKinnon and Aaron Muirhead added two early second-half goals to double that scoreline.
Aaron Doran stepped off the bench to put ICT on the scoresheet, but Thistle sub Danny Mullen completed the emphatic result before visiting defender Wallace Duffy was sent off for a disputed last-man challenge.
Billy Dodds’ side haven’t won in the league since beating Cove 1-0 on October 15.
Partick are now level with fourth-placed Morton and seven points clear of Inverness, who trail new leaders Dundee by 11 points after their 2-0 win at Ayr United.
Inverness need to show improvement
While midfielder Welsh accepts the massive impact of injuries, he insists those charged with the task of playing every week were well off the mark.
He said: “It was unacceptable, to be honest.
“We can only hold our hands up and apologise for the performance.
“To a man, it was unacceptable and we’ve got to deal with it.
“We have three-quarters of our team on the treatment table, but we’ve still got a squad and players are here for a reason.
“We need to show that on the park. At the moment, we’re not showing it and, on Friday, it really wasn’t good enough.”
Signings will add fresh competition
Dodds intends to bring players in during the window to bolster his depleted pool and Welsh, a title-winner with Partick Thistle a decade ago, says all players have to up their game to survive.
He said: “I think the players know we need to be better and if we don’t then we need to look at ourselves in the mirror.
“When you’re not performing on the park and not getting results you’ll know you have to up your game or you will be replaced.
“Obviously we have a lot of our best players injured, but if they’re not back the manager will look to being players to the club in January if we’re not doing it.
“Football is a cut-throat game and if you’re not producing on the park, you’re out the door. If people are not aware of that, they need to quickly be aware of it.”
ICT players will address poor form
Friday’s thumping, which made it eight league games in a row without a win, leaves Inverness miles away from where they need to be and Welsh said the players aim to get to the bottom of the slump and tackle it without delay.
He added: “It can’t get any worse than this and hopefully we’ll have a chat amongst ourselves and address that performance.
“We need to start to put the wrongs right and give ourselves a shake. It’s a case of ‘let’s get going’, because we need to start winning games.”
Partick Thistle leading by example
Partick Thistle, with injuries taking its toll, fell to five straight league losses in October into November, but they’re now four league games unbeaten and on the cusp of a promotion push.
Welsh believes that kind of turnaround is an example Inverness must aim to follow.
He said: “We know what this Championship is like. We’ve done it before and if you can put runs together it can push you right up there.
“One win can help us turn it around and we can start going in the right direction and get ourselves back in the mix.
“But we also know, if we don’t change it quickly, we can be dragged into the battle at the bottom. We need to address these results, get victories and start climbing this table.
“Partick Thistle have shown what can happen. They have won three and drawn one of their last four league games after a slump.
“They’re pulling themselves back up the table, so we’ve got to take inspiration from somewhere and do the same.”
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