Inverness Caley Thistle coach Barry Wilson believes squad can use Premiership play-off final heartbreak against St Johnstone as motivation for another Scottish Championship promotion bid
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Barry Wilson believes last season’s heartache in the promotion fight will fortify Caley Thistle for another crack at the Premiership play-offs.
There has been a relatively small turnover of players at the Caledonian Stadium, with only veteran Kirk Broadfoot and young midfielder Reece McAlear departing at the end of last season among the regular starters.
Loanees Logan Chalmers and Joe Hardy have also returned to respective parent clubs, Dundee United and Accrington.
With Billy Dodds already recruiting two attack-minded players in Steven Boyd and Nathan Shaw, and with healthy midfield competition already, Wilson knows the big focus will be on strengthening defensively.
There is a large core of the squad already wizened by – and all the wiser for – the highs and lows of last season’s play-off disappointment.
“We can all learn from it,” first team coach and club legend Wilson said.
“We can learn from the experience of getting to the play-off final and also from where we slipped up in the league campaign itself.
“We feel we made it hard for ourselves by not finishing in the top two. It might be different if you finish second.
“I’ve said all along, the six-game play-off doesn’t feel right. It needs to be addressed – I’m not saying that’s why we lost, but no-one has ever done it. It is there for all to see how tough it is to come through all those games.
“We know that to have a real fighting chance, you need to be in the top two. If you’re not going to win the league, you need to cut those six games to four.”
As for this season’s title race, Wilson added: “It is three teams in, three out, and it is great to see Cove Rangers and Queen’s Park progress. Cove are on the rise and have a great appointment in Jim McIntyre, while we obviously have Owen Coyle at Queen’s Park. Dundee have a new manager in Gary Bowyer. It is going to be a tough league and it is going to be interesting.
“It’s our job to make sure we are up at the right end of the table again and see if we can go one better. It is a fine line in the Championship, it’s so tight.”
