Caley Thistle boss Scott Kellacher says side are earning luck with hard yards as they get survival fight gap down to 10 points

The Inverness manager says sheer effort is helping his team after successive wins narrow the gap at the foot of League One.

By Paul Chalk

November 18 2024, 3:00 pm

Caley Thistle head coach Scott Kellacher. Image: SNS

Caley Thistle head coach Scott Kellacher believes hard graft is helping the Highlanders land a little bit of luck amid their survival battle.

The League One club were hit with a 15-point penalty for plunging into administration last month, with manager Duncan Ferguson and his coaching staff shown the door by the administrators.

Kellacher, who has served ICT in various roles over 20 years, stepped up from his first-team coaching duties to become the new boss.

He has guided his team to seven points from a possible 12, boosted by back-to-back 2-1 and 1-0 wins over Cove Rangers and Alloa Athletic – opponents who each led the division before playing Inverness.

Charlie Gilmour’s goal sealed the points against Alloa on Saturday, while a penalty save from ICT keeper Musa Dibaga at Cove the week before – when they trailed 1-0 – sparked a comeback victory.

Bottom of the table ICT now sit only 10 points behind ninth-placed Annan Athletic, who dropped below Dumbarton at the weekend.

Kellacher said: “I’m absolutely over the moon because we’re all working as hard as we can.

“It’s the only way that we’re going to get to where we want to get to in terms of climbing the table or whatever it is we must do.

“Hard work gets you there – and hard work gets you the wee breaks when they come along.

“And I go back to Musa saving that penalty at Cove last week. That could prove to be a massive turning point for us.

Musa Dibaga in action for Caley Thistle. Image: Peter Paul.

“So, we’ll keep our heads down. We have Queen of the South away on Saturday.

“We’ll work as hard as we can this week in training and then we’ll look to that game now.”

Caley Thistle midfielder Charlie Gilmour scored the winner against Alloa on Saturday. Image: Jasperimage

Entire team earned clean sheet – boss

While going for goals and wins is the major requirement, Kellacher was thrilled to see an entire team effort help earn a shut-out against Alloa – Inverness’ first since beating Annan 1-0 on October 19.

He said: “The clean sheet is another great thing to build upon. It’s massive.

“As much as we want to go and score goals, we spoke about the back four and Musa, and about defending as a team.

“It starts from Billy Mckay up top – we defend from there.

“The less they have to do the better, but the back four, Musa, the middle three, were all terrific in terms of keeping their shape and limiting Alloa’s chances.

“Another thing we’ve been working on is in terms of finishing games stronger and I think, the last two weeks especially, we’ve done that. That’s certainly good to try and build on as much as we can.”

Davidson and Bray injury blows

ICT’s Jake Davidson, left, faces an anxious wait after his knee injury at the weekend. Image: SNS.

One low note from the weekend was an early knee injury suffered by right-back Jake Davidson as he collided in a challenge with Wasps keeper Peter Morrison.

He was taken off after just 16 minutes, leading to Matthew Strachan coming into defence, swapping full-back positions with left-back James Nolan.

Kellacher said: “I’m absolutely gutted for Jake because he has worked so hard, and he’s a great lad. He gives everything he’s got every day.”

Attacking midfielder Keith Bray sat out Saturday’s game with a shoulder injury, and Kellacher says, once the swelling reduces, they’ll decide whether a scan is required.

The boss added: “It’s a shame because Keith was terrific last week at Cove. He’s a big addition to the squad when he’s fit.”