Former Caley Thistle captain Gary Warren insists Kilmarnock won’t relish the trip to Inverness for Friday’s mouth-watering Scottish Cup quarter-final.
With ICT scoring a vital 2-1 victory at Ayr United in the Championship on Saturday to move to within five points of the play-offs, the focus can turn to locking horns with Derek McInnes’ top-flight visitors, who lost 3-1 against Rangers at the weekend.
Killie are second-bottom in the Premiership and have the worst away record in this season’s top-flight.
In fact, since September, their only win away from Rugby Park came in the previous round of the Scottish Cup when they defeated Dundee United 1-0 at Tannadice.
Warren, a Scottish Cup winner with Inverness eight years ago, reckons it’s up to Billy Dodds’ Highlanders to ensure they are up for the tie from the first whistle to put Kilmarnock under pressure.
He said: “Inverness is a journey Kilmarnock will not be looking forward to.
“They are used to playing on their artificial surface at home and they are more successful there this season.
“It will probably come down to the team who wants to get through the most.
“It will boil down to which team can best hold their nerve and maybe carry a little bit of luck, as well as that little bit of quality.
“Kilmarnock, as the Premiership club, will hope that will be enough to get them over the line, but it’s never easy for teams coming to the Highlands.”
ICT defeated Premiership Livingston 3-0 in West Lothian to reach the last eight of the Scottish Cup, having been handed a reprieve thanks to Queen’s Park being expelled for fielding in ineligible player in their 2-0 win in Inverness in the previous round.🙌Our goals from yesterday's 2-1 win against Ayr United
Sean Welsh & Jay Henderson on the scoresheet yesterday to secure a big three points!
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) March 5, 2023
Cup win can kick-start step-up bid
Warren thinks a second cup scalp would also turbo-boost Caley Thistle’s promotion bid, such is the lift they would get from reaching the semis.
He added: “Beating Livingston 3-0 was a great result.
“They’re in the final eight teams left in the cup, with a Hampden semi-final at stake, so there is a lot to play for.
“Both teams will realise this tie could really give their seasons a lift at a vital time.
“You look forward to any cup competition, but the Scottish Cup especially. Clubs want to reach the semi-finals and final.”
League fixture with Ayr held sole ICT focus
First-team coach Barry Wilson, meanwhile, stressed the focus ahead of last weekend was always on beating Ayr, with Caley Thistle’s cup prospects only now being considered.
He said: “We didn’t even speak about the Kilmarnock game until after Ayr United on Saturday. The cup games take care of themselves.
“The bread and butter are our league results, and we knew we had to get a result at Ayr to relieve any pressures in terms of those teams below us, but also to see where it takes us in terms of the top-four.
“We’ve jumped above Raith Rovers into sixth and we will go again after the Kilmarnock game.”
ICT were desperate to net the first goal at the weekend, but Wilson said coming from 1-0 down, after Dipo Akinyemi’s opener, with goals from Sean Welsh and Jay Henderson, to win was nonetheless pleasing.
He added: “We looked on Friday at how often we’ve lost the first goal and we said to the players about the importance of trying to score first.
“You don’t turn games round very often, so when you do that, it’s nice.”
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