Boss Duncan Ferguson says double incentive for Inverness Caledonian Thistle to overcome Ayr United
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Duncan Ferguson hopes the prospect of finally moving up the Championship table will be enough to motivate Inverness Caledonian Thistle to end their poor run of form at home.
The Caley Jags have not won in Inverness since mid-November, and are back in the Highland capital this weekend hosting Ayr United.
Although ICT are unbeaten in their last five matches, four draws in that time has kept Ferguson’s side exactly where they were in the league table – ninth, in the relegation play-off spot.
An incredibly condensed league still only has them one point behind Queen’s Park in sixth though, and victory this weekend will at the very least see Inverness go above Ayr.
One result, then, could help ease two separate sources of frustration, and Ferguson is optimistic that Caley Thistle will deliver.
“Ayr are just above us in the league, so it’s a big one for both teams,” he said.
“We’re on a good run of form, even if we don’t seem to be getting wins. We’ve had quite a few draws, so we need to get the wins to push us right up the table.
“These are all important games – we are at the business end of the season.
“It’s good motivation to know we can go above Ayr, but the big one for us is to try and address the home form.
“We’ve not won here in the league for months and months.
“That has put us under real pressure. Our away record is the third-best in the division (after Dundee United and Raith Rovers), it has been fantastic, but our home form has been shocking so we need to turn that around at the weekend.”
With such a close league table, teams could end up in a number of scenarios.
While a handful of teams could yet realistically finish in the relegation play-off place, the promotion play-offs are not quite out of reach for Inverness either – they are six points behind Morton in fourth.
It has become typical of the Championship to be so congested in recent years, giving everyone something to play for in the final weeks of the campaign.
Ferguson, then, does not expect anything to be decided until the last possible moment.
“We expect it to go all the way,” he reasoned.
“It has been a long, tough season. Apart from the top two, all the teams seem very similar to one another, so I think it will go to the wire.
“A win on Saturday would give us a real boost to move towards mid-table.
“We have a massive away game after that away to Dundee United, so this one against Ayr is crucial.”
Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s task will not be made any easier by the absence of Nikola Ujdur tomorrow, after the Australian defender re-aggravated his hamstring injury in training.
James Carragher has also been on the sidelines this week after a heavy challenge he sustained against Airdrieonians last Saturday, but the on-loan Wigan defender is expected to be fit enough to feature against Ayr.
