Billy Dodds insists his “fragile” Caley Thistle team need new faces before the transfer window closes on Friday.
A 2-1 Championship defeat at Airdrieonians sent the Highlanders to their sixth successive competitive loss, and to the bottom of the division – three points adrift of Morton, Arbroath and Ayr United after their first three league outings.
A Cammy Harper own goal after just 33 seconds was followed by Calum Gallagher adding a second goal for the Diamonds after a defensive mix-up.
Danny Devine thought he’d pulled one back early in the second half when he claimed he knocked an effort over the goal-line, but that his appeals were waved away by referee Dan McFarlane.
Diamonds midfielder Adam Frizzell was sent off on 50 minutes for a second yellow card and ICT winger Nathan Shaw tapped the ball home to make it 2-1 with 20 minutes left.
Their late pressure was dealt with by newly-promoted Airdrie, who are up to fourth spot, three points behind leaders Queen’s Park, who have played a match more.
New faces imminent after latest loss
Inverness head coach Dodds, who saw defender Max Ram move to Gloucester City on Friday, will now crank up the efforts to bring more signings to the club.
He said: “Hopefully we get one or two in.
“They need it because they are fragile bunch with a lot of young lads in there. We need people who are going to grind it out with attitude.
“We are a good team, but we aren’t giving ourselves a chance – we have done it from the start of the season, and we are continuing it, and it has to stop. We are not getting rewards.
“Sometimes in football it happens and things don’t go for you, there was a lot of bad luck and the ball was over the line for the (Devine) goal, which wasn’t given.
“The linesman doesn’t spot it. He has to see it.”
‘Crazy’ goals making life tough for Caley Thistle
With 40 minutes to go against a side with one player off the park, Dodds felt ICT should have been asking more questions.
He said: “We should be putting them under pressure when they are down to 10 men.
“They started getting desperate and we ended up missing things when we needed a bit of quality that might have got us an equaliser. If we got it at the right time, we might have even won it.
“I thought we deserved something out of the game, but it is the way things have been going for us.
“But you put yourselves under pressure when you give away the type of goals we gave away out of nothing. From comfortable situations, the ball is in the net from crazy things.”
Billy Dodds: ‘Fans are not being rewarded’
Next Saturday, Dunfermline Athletic visit the Caledonian Stadium, and Dodds was at pains to point out he wants to deliver a win for the supporters, who are digging deep to back their beaten team.
He added: “We need to give the fans something to celebrate, they paid their money and travelled all this way and not getting rewarded.
“I feel for them, and it is a lot of money to come and watch this team. They are with us through thick and thin.
“It is the same group, around 150 of them, paying their hard-earned cash and we need to give them some reward because we are not.”
McCabe grateful to get victory v ICT
Airdrie player/boss Rhys McCabe, whose team travel to Dundee United next week, felt his men were not at their best, but was grateful nonetheless to record back-to-back league victories, following on from beating Partick Thistle a fortnight ago.
He said: “If I am honest, did we do enough to win the game? Maybe. We looked a real threat in the first half and took our goals really well, but our overall performance was poor.
“We have to look at the positives – we played poor and come away with a result. That can be pleasing.”