Duncan Ferguson admits it is “critical” Caley Thistle remain in the Championship but believes his side can show their class by beating Montrose on Saturday to avoid relegation to League One.
The Inverness manager was frustrated as his ninth-placed Championship finishers were held 0-0 on the artificial Links Park surface on Tuesday in the first leg of the relegation play-off.
The tie is level as we face Montrose on Saturday at the Caledonian Stadium
Get right behind the team this weekend
COME ON ICTFC 🔵🔴
Ticket Info: https://t.co/CbpkEThVrX pic.twitter.com/ITr0ypXQg9
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) May 8, 2024
League One’s fourth-placed side Montrose were dangerous, but thanks to goalkeeper Mark Ridgers and the well-drilled defence in front, they kept their hosts out.
The second leg, which could go all the way to a penalty shoot-out after extra-time, will be staged at ICT’s Caledonian Stadium as the club seek to avoid dropping to the third tier, a level they were promoted from 25 years ago.
The winners will face either Hamilton Accies or Alloa Athletic for a place in next season’s Championship with the first leg finishing 2-2 at Alloa on Tuesday.
Fast start is Ferguson’s demand
Inverness won only four league matches this season at home, but two came in the closing weeks of the campaign.
Ferguson has been critical of plastic pitches in his debut season as a boss in Scottish football and he hopes playing on grass at Inverness will boost their survival chances.
He said: “On Tuesday, it was a very dry pitch which slowed the ball down quite a bit.
“We need to create more chances and set the tempo this time.
“The game was very slow on Tuesday, and the ball wasn’t moving quickly enough for me, so we need to move it as quickly as we can.
“We need to get into their box and put them under pressure, which is what they did to us on Tuesday.
“Let’s take nothing away from Montrose, they were fantastic and played better than us. They deserve a lot of credit for that.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re playing in a car park, or out on our pitch, we need to improve our performance.
“We’re expecting Montrose to be as good as they were on Tuesday again on Saturday.
“We know how tough it will be, but we’re at home back on the grass, and we did well in the last couple of games against Morton and Raith Rovers, so we’re in a bit of form here.
“The pitch was a barrier to us playing attacking football on Tuesday, because we never created chances, but they did.”
‘Desperate’ to stay in Championship
The former Everton caretaker manager, who replaced Billy Dodds as the boss in September, was a whisker away from keeping the club in the Championship.
They were one point behind Queen’s Park and just one win away from mid-table Morton.
Ferguson admits Saturday will be a huge afternoon for the club as they try to avoid demotion to the third tier.
He said: “We have everything to play for. We’re desperate to stay in this division. It was a tough game down at Montrose; they played well.
“We managed to keep a clean sheet which was good, because on another day we could have lost that game. It’s a massive game for both teams.
“We need to improve if we are going to stay in this division. It’s critical that we stay in this division.
“We were unlucky in the league, only three points off fifth, but we are where we are.”
Players ‘will deal with’ the pressure
When asked about the pressure levels on his side, Ferguson said: “There’s pressure on the players, but there’s pressure on us all.
“We know how important this is for the club and the fans, but we must deal with that.
“The players are experienced in there, so there’s pressure but we’ll deal with it.”
Concerns over potential injuries on a synthetic surface saw defender James Carragher and midfielder Sean McAllister named as subs at Montrose, but they should be in line for starts this weekend.
Centre-half Danny Devine rolled his ankle, so is a doubt, while a return from an ankle injury for Charlie Gilmour is welcome, but this game comes too soon for him after being out since February.