Inverness Caley Thistle boss Billy Dodds says 'We need fans more than ever’
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle head coach Billy Dodds says getting the backing of their home support tomorrow afternoon is more important than ever given the club’s current injury crisis.
Almost a full team of players will be watching from the sidelines as a vastly depleted squad host Raith Rovers at the Caledonian Stadium.
Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh are still rehabilitating long-term injuries from the end of last season, while club captain Sean Welsh is yet to feature in the 2022/23 campaign.
Danny Devine, Scott Allardice, Austin Samuels and Roddy MacGregor all also missed Tuesday night’s defeat to Hamilton, where Wallace Duffy pulled out of the squad after the warm-up.
Dan MacKay was then carried off by ICT’s physios in the second half, with other players like Billy Mckay and Cameron Harper playing through knocks in recent weeks.
Despite the absentees, Inverness had won five matches in a row before losing midweek, and with home advantage tomorrow as they look to bounce back at the first possible opportunity Dodds has issued a rallying cry to the club’s supporters.
“I’ve said ever since I came here that the fans have been brilliant, but I need them now more than ever on Saturday to help the ones that are left on the pitch,” Dodds said.
“If we grind out a result on Saturday, then it has been a brilliant run for us.
“Nobody expected us to have so many injuries, but I love it when our backs are to the wall. I was like that as a player, I’m like that as a person. Bring it on, but we need everybody to chip in.
“That’s where I’m practically begging for the fans to give us that positive support on Saturday, because it will help us.”
With so many players out injured, Caley Thistle’s options from the substitutes’ bench seem to be getting younger every week.
On Tuesday night, Calum Mackay and Keith Bray
were in the match day squad, while Matthew Strachan came on for his senior debut.
With such a threadbare list of options available to Dodds, he could be forgiven for believing it is the perfect opportunity to give those players experience at a higher level – but he would much prefer to remain cautious for the good of their development.
“People say ‘we’re down to the bare bones’ and we really are. We’re down to the last few but we’ll still get a team out there,” he added.
“I wouldn’t necessarily have liked to throw Matthew in just now, or put Calum or Keith on the bench, but we are where we are.
“I know for 10 or 15 minutes, those boys won’t let us down, but I don’t really want to be doing it because I do think it’s too early for them.
“Sometimes in adversity you get something like that happening, but I would still be putting the reins on the lot of them just now.
“There are players in front of them that we thought could use loan experience, but once you put them out you can’t get them back.”
