Wallace Duffy believes Inverness Caley Thistle may need to stay unbeaten through final three Championship games of the season – starting with Raith Rovers in the Highland capital
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Wallace Duffy believes Inverness Caledonian Thistle will need to go unbeaten through their last three Championship games of the season to make sure of avoiding a relegation play-off.
The Caley Jags put themselves in a strong position to steer clear of danger last weekend with a 1-0 win at Queen’s Park, which saw Inverness leapfrog their opponents into eighth place in the table.
Tonight, ICT have the chance to pile the pressure on their rivals near the bottom of the table when they take on Raith Rovers, whose title challenge has been stuttering over recent weeks.
Win, and Caley Thistle will not only move five points clear of Queen’s Park, but they would also move ahead of Morton in the table.
With both of those other sides still to play already-relegated Arbroath, though, Duffy does not feel Inverness can take anything for granted in the closing stages of the campaign.
“To get the win last week and have it in our own hands is massive,” he reasoned.
“All season we’ve been relying on other teams to drop points, and if they win and you don’t have a great result it is demoralising.
“Against Queen’s Park we felt really good. We were passing it around and looked like the better team.
“Anyone watching would have been wondering how we’re down at the bottom end of the table, but we are where we are, so if we do that over the next three games I am confident we will stay up.
“We maybe won’t need three wins, but it needs to be three positive results. I don’t think we can afford to lose any of the three games if I’m being honest.
“The only one might be Raith, because they’re at the opposite end of the table and not around us, but we need a positive result on Friday to kickstart us again going into the last two games.”
Should he play against Raith, it will be Duffy’s 100th appearance for Caley Thistle.
It will be a landmark that the 25-year-old feels he could have hit earlier were it not for injuries and inconsistent spells.
Still, the defender has enjoyed his time in the Highlands, and is hopeful that more good times will come in the relatively near future.
“It’s pretty exciting to reach 100 games, because I probably should have done it a long time ago,” Duffy added.
“I came up just after Covid, and then we got put into another wee lockdown, so the start wasn’t the best.
“I didn’t get to explore Inverness or meet as many people as I wanted to when I first moved up, but the past few years have been plain sailing.
“We’ve made some nice memories, getting to play-off finals and Scottish Cup finals. Those haven’t ended the way we wanted them to, but I’ve enjoyed it.
“Right now I’m probably having one of a couple of good runs I’ve had with games, results and performances.
“When you’re out all the time, you’re just trying to get back up match fitness and sharpness when you come back in, and then you’re more likely to pick up another knock. The most important thing in football is consistency, because that’s when you get better.
“I think that’s five or six now I’ve played on the trot, and I’m feeling fit. The numbers are showing that.
“The more games you play, the better you will get, so I’m happy with how things are going.”
