Danny Devine hopes to help bring valuable know-how to Caley Thistle’s back line as they chase a much-needed Championship victory against Cove Rangers on Monday.
A 1-0 win over Jim McIntyre’s side at the Balmoral Stadium on October 15 was ICT’s last league victory, which means the visitors to Inverness will overtake them should they post their first away success in the Championship.
It’s a seventh against eighth clash, with the pressure firmly fixed on home manager Billy Dodds, who needs his players to deliver a telling win ahead of Saturday’s trip to second-bottom Arbroath.
🔜 The match info for our home game against Cove Rangers on Monday 2nd January is available now
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— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) December 27, 2022
Their crushing 5-1 defeat at Partick Thistle on December 23 didn’t help soothe the mood and Caley Thistle, with eight key men still injured, need three points desperately.
At Firhill, injury led to a centre-half pairing of Max Ram, 22, and Wallace Duffy, 23, in the middle of 21-year-old right-back Ryan Barrett, and 20-year-old left-back Zak Delaney.
Just one slip-up can be punishing
Scottish Cup winner Devine, 30, has returned from a groin injury and is determined to help make a difference as ICT chase the win.
He said: “The defence is one of those key areas of the pitch where experience does help.
“One lapse in concentration can cost you, even though you might play well for 90 minutes. That’s the nature of playing at the back.
“If I can pass on my experience to the younger boys, then great.
“But I think they will have learned a lot from the other night as much as it would have hurt them, not just the two centre halves, also the two full-backs.
“Hopefully, from what they’ve learned they can kick on in their careers with it, starting on Monday.”
Display ‘nowhere near good enough’
Devine has been out since the 1-0 defeat by Dundee at the start of December and he said the nature of the tame showing against his old club Partick was a sore one.
However, he said the players involved are determined to return to winning ways.
He said: “There was a lot of disappointment amongst the boys. I missed out through a wee niggle, but speaking to the lads afterwards, they were down in terms of how the game went.
“It was also not nice for our travelling fans to see that performance, but it’s in the past and we have to think like that.
“We have to just think about the next game. Come Monday, we need to be ready and make sure it’s a much better performance.
“The boys have spoken amongst one another and we know it was nowhere near good enough for this club. We desperately want to put it right on Monday.”
Players accept criticism after defeats
Northern Irishman Devine is well aware the side have been blasted by disgruntled supporters as the games without wins stack up.
However, he insists the players know only they can turn the tide and lift the mood.
He added: “That’s football – when you’re not playing well or winning games, you will get criticised. The boys know that. We’ve had it in the past and I’m sure we will have it in the future.
“The sooner we can stop the rot and put it right, the better. The boys who played at Partick are desperate to get out there and show the fans we care. We really want to pick up three points.”
One win can spark ICT’s revival
Last season, ICT recovered from a three-month winless run before a 3-0 victory against Arbroath kick-started a run all the way to a third-placed finish and a Premiership play-off final defeat at St Johnstone.
Devine believes one win might just be the spark they need to climb the table, although clearly he’d rather that started now.
He said: “We don’t want a repeat of that kind of run and the sooner we can get a win the better.
“One win might just help the form automatically turn for us. We can then maybe get that wee bit of luck and hopefully that starts on Monday.”
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