Caley Thistle match-winner Jay Henderson was thrilled to grab the winner against Ayr United – now he’s setting his sights on Kilmarnock in the Scottish Cup.
The 21-year-old, who is on loan from St Mirren, is from Kilmarnock, and delighted his family by netting the clincher to seal a vital 2-1 victory to move ICT into sixth place in the Championship.
His second half strike earned Inverness their first league win since early January and they are now five points away from fourth-placed Morton, who host Ayr on Tuesday night.
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GOOOOOOOOOALLLLLLLLLLLL! JAY HENDERSON MAKES IT 2-1! pic.twitter.com/g3IdpIRkAW
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) March 4, 2023
With a crucial league win in the bag, Billy Dodds’ team look forward to tackling Killie in the Scottish Cup quarter-final at the Caledonian Stadium on Friday, on the back of beating top-flight Livingston 3-0 in the last round.
Caley Jags aiming to stun Kilmarnock
Henderson, who had Killie-backing family cheering him on at Somerset Park, cannot wait to have a shot at Derek McInnes’ second-bottom Premiership side this week.
He said: “The league is massive and remains our priority, but all the boys are desperate to try to get to Hampden.
“It’s really important for us. We just need to get our heads down, have a big training week and look forward to it.
“I know Killie lost 3-1 at Ibrox on Saturday, but they’re a really good team with a number of really good players, so I’m sure it will be a good game at the Caledonian Stadium.
“People maybe look into the league differences too much, but our players can definitely handle what they’ve got and we will throw everything we’ve got to beat Kilmarnock. It would be a massive result if we could get that over the line to reach the semi-finals.”
Back in the chase for top-four finish
Dipo Akinyemi fired Ayr in front after 12 minutes before a leveller from Inverness captain Sean Welsh made it 1-1 seven minutes later.
Daire O’Connor’s hotly-disputed red card for a challenge on Wallace Duffy on 29 minutes gave Caley Thistle an advantage and Henderson felt they made best use of that with their style of play.
He said: “It was good to get the win, especially off the back of some disappointing results.
“We’ve not been getting the rub of the green, so it was good to get the monkey off our backs was great.
“It suited us to play against their 10 men. When we get the ball down, we’re a good football team. It was a case of being patient and getting the breakthrough – it was a good three points.
“We’re just five points away from fourth place now, which maybe didn’t look likely before Saturday’s game.
“We’ve kept plugging away. It was never out of reach for us. We were maybe a step off it coming up to the Ayr game, but the win brings us right back into the mix, which helps the group.”
Third Inverness goal secured the win
Henderson, who has now three ICT goals to his name since arriving on loan in January, felt the clincher gives the entire squad a lift at a key time.
When asked to describe his goal, he said: “It was nice. The ball fell to me at the back post. It was just instinct where I got my head down, get over it and try to hit the target. Thankfully it went in.
“It proved to be the winning goal, which was good for me, but more so for the team, especially with the big game on Friday. It gives us good momentum.”
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