Caley Thistle manager Billy Dodds reckons stand-in centre half Zak Delaney showed against Morton why he’s a massive asset as injuries bite again at a crucial time.
It’s been a season of players being sidelined and, with just six Championship games to go, defenders Danny Devine and Wallace Duffy have missed out on successive 1-0 and 2-1 wins against Partick Thistle and Morton.
Primarily a full-back, 21-year-old Delaney has stepped in to support Robbie Deas, who praised the Irishman’s performance in the shut-out against Thistle.
Delaney ‘immense’ against Oakley
On Saturday at Morton, Delaney was up against former Inverness striker George Oakley, and it was the visiting player who came out on top.
Dodds said: “Big George asked Zak some questions early on, trying to use his physique.
“George was a threat, but Zak stood up well to him. In the second half, Zak was immense. Sometimes, games like that can make a man of you and I thought he was brilliant.”
Shaw continues to shine for ICT
Another stand-out at Cappielow was fleet-footed winger Nathan Shaw, who was involved in the goals scored by Scott Allardice and David Carson.
Dodds feels the signing from AFC Fylde last summer is flourishing in the Highlands with each passing match.
He said: “Nathan is a talented boy. It has taken him a bit of time to settle. He’s that kind of lad.
“He’s quiet and unassuming, but he was great on the ball on Saturday on a fiery pitch.
“He showed his technical side with control and the balance.”
Every player vital in winning again
As thrilled as he was individual performances at Morton, the head coach was keen to stress the entire squad played their parts in keeping ICT to within six points of fourth-placed Partick Thistle with a game in hand.
He said: “It was a collective performance against Morton. Look at Steven Boyd, for example, who came on and set up David Carson for the winner.
“The subs all played their part. Everybody dug in to see out a brilliant three points. We deserved the win in the end.
“It was a blow to lose Jay (Henderson, to injury) early on. It’s another one we needed to take on the chin, take our medicine.
“We’ve had to do that all season. Jay had a couple of stepovers then stood on the ball, so it was unfortunately self-inflicted in a way.
“He was really unlucky. Jay is an important player for us. Hopefully, he’s okay and, by coming off, we’ve caught it in time.”
Dodds: ‘All I did was ask a question’
Dodds was booked at Greenock last weekend and his head of technical performance Ross Hughes was red-carded for separate incidents.
The Inverness manager questioned why his team were not awarded a spot-kick at 1-0, while Hughes was deemed to have shouted into the home stands after Carson’s late clincher.
Dodds hopes this will be the last time for a while he feels the need to comment of officials’ performances.
He said: “All I did was ask a question. ‘David, why are you not giving us a penalty?’, then I got a yellow card.
“I just asked the linesman about it. You put everything into the game, as managers and players. I asked a question and got booked.
“Then my backroom member of staff got sent off for what, I don’t know. I don’t want to talk any more about refs. I’ve talked about them in the last few weeks and I don’t like to do that as a manager.
“A lot of managers in Scottish football do it too much. I don’t like talking about refs, but sometimes you have to.”
Caley Thistle, who are six points adrift of fourth-placed Partick Thistle with a game in hand, will aim for their third successive victory this weekend when they host fellow play-off chasers Raith Rovers.
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