Defender Jake Davidson is confident Caley Thistle can get the better of Annan Athletic – because he feels they should have swept them aside last month.
It’s a return to Galabank for ICT, but this time for their second League One match of the season, following their 1-1 home draw with Dumbarton a week ago.
Last month, in the Premier Sports Cup group stages, Annan edged an entertaining contest 1-0, but Inverness blew several chances to score.
‘We missed a lot of chances at Annan’
That gives former Queen’s Park full-back Davidson hope that they can depart from Dumfries and Galloway with a better result on Saturday.
He said: “I’m looking forward to it. Last time down there, we were obviously beaten but I thought we did really well.
“We missed a lot of chances, but we created them. On another day, had we won 4-1 or 5-1, I don’t think anyone could have complained.
“It is up to us to start the game well, create our chances and go from there.
“They were quite content to soak it up even before they scored – that was their game-plan.
“I thought we created a lot of good chances, so hopefully we can take them this weekend.”
Overnight stay for epic Annan trip
Thankfully for the players and staff, the 480-mile round trip will be broken up by an overnight stay on Friday.
With the journey taking between five and six hours on a team coach, Davidson says the club pitching in with this gesture is welcome.
He said: “It is a long way, to be fair.
“It will be good for all of the boys to be together the night before.
“Without that, sometimes, some of the boys go home when they have places closer to the away venue.
“Having everyone together helps a lot.
“Physically, from bus trips like that, you get a bit of stiffness, tiredness. You’re up at 7.30am or so for a 3pm kick-off. It is a pretty long day, more mentally than anything.”
Young squad is bound to improve
With the new-look, and largely young, squad gradually bedding in after ICT’s relegation at the end of last season, 23-year-old Davidson feels the team is sure to improve.
He said: “I think there’s more to come from us. That’s clear to see.
“We’re a young squad, a new squad.
“Not many of us have played together too often, so that’s pretty self-explanatory – as you play together more often, you build better connections with each other.”
‘Building a good dressing room’
And with many of the players being in their late-teens into early-20s, Davidson, who was on loan at Hamilton Accies last term, says that is helping generate a good team spirit.
He added: “We have a lot of things in common with one another. It’s nothing that doesn’t happen normally in dressing rooms, but it is pretty clear to see we have a good group and we’re building a good dressing room.
“We also have the older players like Billy Mckay and Danny Devine. For me, especially Danny, playing in defence.
“We draw on them and he has been brilliant with me so far. They’ve both been great and are using their experience in the dressing room.”