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Inverness Caledonian Thistle are ready for the ‘cup final’ against Arbroath says captain Sean Welsh


By Will Clark

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CAPTAIN Sean Welsh says Inverness Caledonian Thistle are now in cup final territory as tonight’s match at Arbroath is win or bust for their Premiership hopes.

Picture - Ken Macpherson. Premiership play-off semi-final 1st Leg. Inverness CT(0) v Arbroath(0). 10.05.22. Arbroath's Chris Hamilton and ICT’s Sean Welsh.
Picture - Ken Macpherson. Premiership play-off semi-final 1st Leg. Inverness CT(0) v Arbroath(0). 10.05.22. Arbroath's Chris Hamilton and ICT’s Sean Welsh.

The two teams clash at Gayfield after being locked at 0–0 from the first leg at the Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday night.

The winner tonight will face St Johnstone in the play-off final, with the first leg being played in either Inverness or Arbroath on Friday night.

Inverness have played two more games than Arbroath in the play-offs, having beaten Partick Thistle 3–1 on aggregate in the quarter final.

But Welsh says the team are coping with the congestion of matches well and are confident they can progress.

“We’re feeling good.

“We’ve had a few games in a short space of time and there’s a bit of tiredness in the limbs, but the adrenaline for tomorrow night is going to be massive.

“We know how big a game it is. I’m sure that will get us pumped and we’ll be ready to go come kick-off.

“It is now a cup final shoot-out – we go down there needing to win the game.

“They’ll be saying the same thing. It is winner takes all and we’ll treat it as a cup final.

“It is a massive game.”

Inverness are the only team in the Championship to win at Gayfield this season, a 1–0 victory on the opening day thanks to a Shane Sutherland strike.

Welsh says questions will be asked of Arbroath about if they can handle the pressure, adding: “They’ll be saying they are a part-time team and not expected to be here, the pressure is all on Inverness.

“But they have a good record at Gayfield and it does put a little bit of pressure on them as everyone expects them to get a result now.

“They have us 0-0 away and they’re getting us back to their fortress.

"All that matters to us is that we’re going down there to win the game.

“We know it is going to be tough, but we’ll just concentrate on what we need to do.”


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