Allardice: Inverness Caledonian Thistle can compete in the top flight
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SCOTT Allardice believes Caley Thistle’s performances in the Scottish Cup have proven they are good enough to compete in the Premiership next season.
Now the midfielder is determined they go and prove it by winning their final three games to secure their place in the play-offs.
Inverness suffered late heartbreak in Paisley when a late goal saw them go down 2–1 to St Mirren in the Scottish Cup fourth round.
But the Championship outfit created a number of chances to score in an excellent cup tie.
Along with defeating Ross County 3–1 in Dingwall in the third round, Allardice believes Inverness have made a statement about how good the squad is.
Now, he is determined to secure a top four finish to have a chance of playing in the top flight next season.
Speaking about performing against Ross County and St Mirren, he said: “We showed that we can compete at that level, even though they might have been one-off games.
“In the two games against these sides, including taking on St Mirren who were unlucky to miss out on top six, we made a bit of a statement.
“We passed the ball well and competed well and were unlucky in the end.
“But we came to these grounds and played against these teams and showed we are more than capable of competing against them.”
Inverness fell out of the play-off zone on Saturday after Dunfermline Athletic beat Queen of the South to move two points ahead in fourth.
But Inverness have one game in hand against Dundee tonight, and Allardice is aiming for nine points in their final three matches.
“We need to aim for three wins because a side could drop points and next they could win 4-0.
“It is a mad league, so we need to win every game which I think is doable.
“But a massive three points against Dundee would be the big one because they are in and around it as well.”
Friday night was ICT’s first defeat in nine games in all competitions.
Allardice believes they can bounce back immediately saying the squad has a different mentality from the one that went on a run of one win in 13 games earlier this season.
“We have kicked on, at times we have not played as well but we have been more solid and won games and that is a big thing.
“But we’ve shown that we’ve turned a corner with results.”
