Billy Dodds urges his Caley Thistle players to seize chance to book Scottish Cup final spot

Inverness manager has big-game experience - but he insists it's all about his team as they face Falkirk in the semi-final.

By Paul Chalk

April 28 2023, 10:30 pm

Inverness manager Billy Dodds. Image: Mark Scates/SNS Group

Billy Dodds wants his Caley Thistle players to grab the limelight and steer the club into the Scottish Cup final at the expense of Falkirk.

The ICT head coach won the Scottish Cup as a Rangers player in 2000 and was assistant manager when Queen of the South were runners-up in 2008.

Alongside Jim McIntyre, he was the number two as Ross County lifted the Scottish League Cup seven years ago.

So, the 54-year-old former Scotland striker knows all about the big occasions and how best to handle them.

Caley Jags head coach Billy Dodds. Image: Mark Scates/SNS Group

However, he insists Saturday’s semi-final for his in-form Championship promotion-chasers against League One runners-up Falkirk is the chance for his squad to deliver another big result to reach the final against Rangers or Celtic, who meet on Sunday.

He said: “It’s not about me and I truly mean that.

“It will be nice for my staff and myself to hopefully get to a final and into the promotion play-offs again, but if I make it about me I’m not doing my job properly.

“It’s the players’ time to make history and achieve great things. That’s what I want them to realise.

“We go there with high hopes and we hope to make the final, but it will take calmness and a good performance.

“If the boys do what they are capable of then we have a hell of a chance. A good team is in front of us and we will respect Falkirk, but we know what we must do.”

The Inverness squad during a training session at Fort George on Thursday. Image: Mark Scates/SNS Group

Players must ‘handle the occasion’

Caley Thistle defeated Falkirk in the 2015 Scottish Cup final when ICT came through a tense 90 minutes to win 2-1 with a late James Vincent clincher.

Having beaten top-table opponents Livingston 3-0 and Kilmarnock 2-1, ICT are now ready to meet this next big hurdle and extend their seven-game unbeaten run.

Dodds backs his men to keep check on their emotions and focus on simply getting the better of the fired-up Bairns.

He said: “When I was with Queen of the South and Dundee United (Scottish Cup finalists in 2005), we were underdogs and we handled the occasion.

“But as a player I’ve seen it in Old Firm games. It can pass you by and you think: ‘where did those 90 minutes go?’

“I just want my players to concentrate because when they concentrate, we have proved against Kilmarnock and Livi that we can beat Premiership teams.

“If we concentrate and focus, then I know we will perform like we can. That will give us a better chance. I hope the occasion won’t get to them – and I don’t think it will.”

Cup triumph can inspire current side

Images of Caley Thistle’s Scottish Cup heroes are proudly plastered around the Caledonian Stadium.

And ICT boss Dodds wants the current group to be inspired to repeat the feat by winning this semi-final.

He added: “Most clubs who have had success in cup competitions or other success in their history stick it up on the walls because the new generation of players will see it and they can aspire to it.

“That’s why it’s on the walls here and it’s on the walls at other clubs as well. It’s human nature that you walk past that and you think: ‘I want a piece of that.’

“Players will realise what can be achieved and how special a day they can have.”