Caley Thistle slid to a 4-1 pre-season defeat at Highland League Brora Rangers with the new campaign a matter of days away.
Inverness boss Duncan Ferguson admits having four injured players is a problem he could well do without.
This was the final chance for Inverness to sharpen up ahead of their Premier Sports Cup group stage opener against fellow League One hosts Annan Athletic this Saturday.
Goals from Tony Dingwall and Max Ewan had the north side coasting before Shae Keogh crashed home a volley on the stroke of half-time.
Jordan MacRae made it three for the Sutherland side early in the second half before Dingwall wrapped it up late on for a deserved Brora victory.
ICT were without injured trio Billy Mckay, Danny Devine and Robbie Thompson then Adam Brooks went off with a hamstring injury to add to their woes.
‘We will work towards Saturday’
Ferguson, whose side beat Clachnacuddin and Nairn in pre-season before losing to Raith, said the result shouldn’t detract from his young players’ efforts.
He said: “It would have been nice to win, but we can see where we are as a club. It’s about getting minutes in the tank.
“We started the game well, but it drifted away from us. These young lads are trying their very best. They kept on going. I cannot fault them for their effort.
“Brora are a decent outfit. We can see that – we’ll work towards Saturday. It will more or less be the same team.
“We have lost a few players through injury. A couple of senior players would really help us at the moment, but it is not to be.
“Billy Mckay and Robbie Thompson are big doubts for Saturday with foot and ankle injuries. Adam Brooks came off here with a hamstring injury, while Danny Devine rolled his ankle on the plastic pitch (at Raith on Saturday).”
Teams started on the front foot
Home manager Steven Mackay made just one change from the team which lost 2-1 to Premiership Ross County in their friendly at the weekend as Ross Hardie replaced Tom Kelly.
For ICT, it was a second opportunity for boss Duncan Ferguson to cast his eyes over trialists, ex-Ross County midfielder Adam Mackinnon and former Rothes centre half Callum Haspell, who came on in the second half.
Attacking intent was clear from the start from both teams, but it was the hosts who opened the scoring on 13 minutes.
Dingwall got ball rolling early on
A long flighted ball from Colin Williamson led to hesitation at the back and Dingwall reacted quickest to nudge the ball over the goal-line.
Keith Bray almost levelled moments later, but keeper Cammy Mackay – who left ICT this summer – dived to push clear his net-bound drive.
Jordan MacRae was unfortunate not to make it two on 23 minutes when he stole possession from Jake Davidson and curled his 25-yarder around the right post.
The link-up play between midfield and attack for Inverness seemed to be lacking again, which was a point made by Ferguson following the Raith match.
And they were made to pay on 32 minutes when Ewan saw an opening from the right side of the box and guided a superb low drive out of Jack Newman’s reach to make it 2-0.
Four minutes before the break, Inverness halved the deficit when Keogh, son of ex-ICT star Liam – slammed a volley home from a corner,
MacRae kept goals flowing for Brora
On 52 minutes Jordan MacRae extended the lead to 3-1 when he supplied a close-range touch to round off a well-worked move.
Calum MacLeod fired an effort over the crossbar as the chiefly young ICT side fought for a way back.
However, it was Brora who hit the net again when Dingwall steered a low drive past young keeper Szymon Rebilas after Jordan MacRae’s effort struck the post.
It was a sore scoreline for Ferguson’s team, but the results are always secondary to gaining fitness in friendlies and they will hope to get a meaningful outcome in the Premier Sports Cup at Annan on Saturday.
Brora boss Mackay delighted
Brora continue their preparations for the new campaign on Saturday with a trip to Stornoway to face a Lewis and Harris select.
Boss Mackay said: “The message was could we back up our strong performance against Ross County? We did that. We were really impressive at both ends of the park.
“I thought we were solid defensively, but we were also really dangerous going forward.”
