Scott Allardice admits Caley Thistle fell at the final hurdle in their bid to reach the promotion play-offs.
The midfielder was hugely deflated after Inverness lost 2-1 in their final-night must-win Championship clash against Ayr United on Friday.
That damaging defeat, sealed by a late Mark McKenzie goal, saw Inverness’ run of seven straight wins and a draw come to an end and the club finished in sixth position.
Nerves not to blame for Ayr defeat
The Highlanders have the Scottish Cup final against Celtic on June 3 to prepare for after a rest, but, for Allardice, he explained their full-on efforts were just not good enough in the end.
He said: “We’re obviously gutted, but we know we let ourselves down.
“We were nowhere near it. Me, personally, I was miles off what I expect of myself.
“Fair play to Ayr, they’ve done a job, but we weren’t good enough.
“Personally, I wasn’t nervous, I was just poor. That’s the easiest way to describe it.
“It wasn’t nerves. Last week, we went and performed in a (3-0 win against Falkirk) in the semi-final at Hampden Park.
“To fight for a play-off, it wasn’t nerves, just a poor performance all-round.
“We go around the group and may didn’t perform to the level they expect, but I was certainly one of them.”
Loss was ‘not for the want of trying’
When asked whether the first half display mainly was down to any form of tiredness, the 25-year-old said: “I don’t want to stand here and make excuses, but I think it probably looked like that from the stands.
“It probably felt very flat. It has been very hectic, and we’ve given it everything.
“One thing you could maybe label at us is we haven’t been good enough at times, but you have a group of boys in there who have given everything.
“Even to give ourselves the opportunity of trying to get to the play-offs has taken a huge effort. We fell short, but it wasn’t for want of trying.”
Injuries wrecked chances of title shot
For much of the season, manager Billy Dodds had anything from eight to 12 players missing on any given week.
And Allardice is sure, had that not been the case, they’d have been within reach of champions Dundee, who were eight points ahead of Inverness by the end of play.
He said: “As a team, we have that ability. We know at this level we’re a good side and I think we’ve proved it.
“The injuries have been well-documented, but if we’ve had a mostly fit squad over the course of the whole season we would have been up there challenging, without a doubt.
“The Ayr game is not the reason we’re not in the play-offs.
“It was a poor performance, but you earn it over the course of the season and earlier in the campaign we didn’t do enough.”
Get behind ICT for Scottish Cup final
And the midfielder hopes Inverness have one big performance left when they tackle champions Celtic in the cup final back at Hampden next month.
He added: “The season is not done. Ultimately, we wanted to be in the play-offs and we wanted to be playing in the Premiership next season. But the season is not done.
“Everyone will write us off – and probably rightly so because Celtic are a great side and we’ll be underdogs.
“But the season isn’t finished. All I would ask is for people to stay behind us. I know they will come to the cup final.
“Us, as players, will rest up but the season isn’t over.”
The club has received the following statement this afternoon:
The Scottish FA can confirm that the 2022/23 Scottish Cup Final will take place between Celtic and Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Hampden Park on Saturday, June 3, with a 5.30pm kick-off. pic.twitter.com/N1AUgiNbSy
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) May 3, 2023
Much-needed rest for Inverness side
Allardice, for the next week or so, can finally have some time to relax and recharge and he insists that’s what the tired team need most right now.
He said: “We’re getting a wee bit of time off and I think the boys probably need it now, to rest up.
“The boys have put everything into the last two months since I’ve come back from injury.
“We’ve had a lot of games and I’ve given it everything myself, as well.
“I probably could do with a wee break now that we have a month to prepare.
“We’ll make the best of that time off and then it will be straight into preparation for the final. It’s probably a well-needed break.”
Conversation