Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Billy Dodds accepts Caley Thistle’s fight is now to make sure of play-off place

Caley Thistle boss Billy Dodds despairs following the defeat to Hamilton Accies. Image: Simon Wootton/SNS.
Caley Thistle boss Billy Dodds despairs following the defeat to Hamilton Accies. Image: Simon Wootton/SNS.

Billy Dodds accepts Caley Thistle are now in a fight to reach the Championship promotion play-offs – but he is confident his side can rise to the challenge.

After falling to a 3-0 defeat to Hamilton Accies on Saturday, Inverness face a quickfire return match against John Rankin’s men at New Douglas Park on Tuesday night.

The result leaves Caley Jags in seventh place, five points adrift of the play-off spots.

Although 12 points separate his side from league leaders Queen’s Park at present, Dodds felt back-to-back wins over Accies could have kept his side in title contention.

Dodds admits that is now an unrealistic target, however he remains determined to revive his side’s form to ensure they finish in the top four.

The Inverness boss said: “It was a pivotal point in the season. If we had gone and beaten Hamilton tomorrow we could have been thinking about the title.

Hamilton’s Lucas De Bolle celebrates scoring against Caley Thistle. Image: SNS

“But we are now in a place where we are going to make sure we try and get into the play-offs. That’s where we are.

“We’ve got to get back in the play-off mix.

“It can happen Tuesday or Saturday, but I’m sure we’ll claw it back because I know my team are good enough. We’ve just got to be better in possession and not slack, and we’ll be fine.

“There’s so much good in my team and other managers know we’re a good team, but we’ve got to do our own bit and make sure we’re not slack.”

Quick rematch with Accies a welcome opportunity for Caley Thistle

Inverness were hit by three second half goals at Caledonian Stadium on Saturday, against an Accies side who remain bottom of the table despite the victory.

Dodds says the opportunity of a quick rematch against the Lanarkshire outfit is one his side is relishing.

He added: “I’m glad we are getting the opportunity quickly, because it was a sore one.

“It was a hard one for the boys, a hard one for me and my staff.

“For half an hour, I thought we took the Livingston performance right into this game. We got beaten 3-0, because we sold a bad goal which drained the players within the game.

“It was as simple as that.

“We want to get back to winning ways – and quickly.

“It was a hard one, but we got them in on Sunday and we got them going again.

“We have got to be ready for Tuesday. We need to keep plugging, and making sure we are grafting to get three points and get the momentum going again.”

Samuels and Deas back in contention

Inverness have been beset by injuries throughout the campaign, however Dodds is beginning to welcome back strength in depth.

Robbie Deas and Austin Samuels were back among the substitutes on Saturday, with the latter playing the final 21 minutes of the match.

Dodds says the pair need time to get back up to speed, adding: “I have been saying it for weeks now – it’s about getting them the game time.

“I got Austin some on Saturday, and I would have liked to get Robbie on but we were chasing the game.

Caley Thistle’s Austin Samuels in action against Hamilton Accies. Image: Simon Wootton/SNS.

“I think it will be beneficial to Robbie because he broke his leg. We’ve got to make sure we are doing the right thing with him, but I’m hoping to get him game time in the next seven days.

“Whether that be on the pitch, in the first team, or a reserve game we set up.

“We have to get minutes into him. I can’t wait to have him back, so I will be picking the right time to put him in.

“I would have loved to have given him 15 or 20 minutes by now, but it has not quite worked out that way.”

Conversation