Inverness Caley Thistle still believe they can finish in top three in SWF Championship
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle's women are still aiming for a top-three finish in the SWF Championship, according to manager Karen Mason.
A string of disappointing performances towards the end of 2022 saw Mason concede that the title, and in turn promotion, was out of reach for the Caley Jags.
Currently sitting fourth in the table, ICT are still looking to move up the standings before the end of the campaign though. To do that, they will have to make up a 12-point deficit to next opponents Renfrew, but Mason sees no reason why they cannot make up that ground.
"Our aim is to try and catch Renfrew, that's got to be our realistic target," she said.
"We've managed to get ourselves 12 points behind in half a season, so I don't see why we can't pull ourselves back within reach and potentially overtake them in another half.
"This first game is going to be important to set ourselves on the right foot.
"We want to make sure we challenge these teams we know we can, and it's going to be down to us to make sure we put in performances that we know we can."
Mason will take her squad to New Western Park without the services of Megan McCarthy or Peigi Barker, while Natalie Bodiam is a doubt as she recovers from illness.
Those who are available, though, will be trying to replicate the levels that saw Inverness knock league leaders Livingston out of the Scottish Cup in their final match of 2022.
In fact, that will be the big challenge for Caley Thistle in the coming months.
"We're trying to demand that consistency more often," Mason added.
"We know from that performance what we are capable of, but what we haven't managed to do is put that in more than one week at a time.
"That's definitely the challenge for us, and it's the most frustrating thing knowing that we are capable of playing like that. When we don't see it, it's very disappointing."
ICT's women have already played one match since the turn of the year, going out of the cup themselves last weekend against SWPL One outfit Glasgow.
The 5–1 loss was a marked improvement on last season's double-digit defeat to Hamilton, and it could have been even better as Mason felt the final score was more one-sided than the actual balance of play.
"The scoreline probably didn't actually reflect the game," she reasoned.
"I don't think they were any better than us, we definitely competed with them.
"The goals were from 40 yards out, which we might have had a chance of keeping out if we had a taller goalkeeper.
"You can say it was an improvement compared to last year, but I don't think Glasgow are the team Hamilton were.
"There's a reason they are where they are at the bottom of the SWPL One, but it was good not to get too heavy of a defeat down there.
"It was actually disappointing to lose five by the time we finished, but it was a good experience.
"We'll treat it as 90 minutes to help us get ready for the league this weekend."
