Inverness Caledonian Thistle striker puts one over on former side Raith Rovers
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Manny Duku shrugged off the negative reaction he got from fans of his former side to help Inverness beat Raith Rovers last weekend.
He only spent one season at Raith, but any time he was in possession the 150-or-so travelling supporters showered him in a chorus of boos.
That could have thrown his concentration off, especially when goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald prevented the Dutch striker from scoring, but Duku continued to put a shift in for the team, and afterwards he was more concerned about securing three points than the fans.
“I got a reaction from their fans, but we won, so all that reaction doesn’t matter,” Duku explained.
“We got the three points and that’s all that matters for our team.
“We deserved the win, I felt we had the better of the chances.
“I had a few chances as well and Jamie made a few saves. I know Jamie well, he’s an excellent goalkeeper, but we had to work for the goal and it took a great goal to get the win.
“It was a brilliant strike from Roddy (MacGregor). He does that in training. Not thinking, just hit it, and he hit it sweetly.”
Stories occasionally surface of strikers allowing wins to be tainted by not scoring.
Duku may have wanted to prove a point by finding the net against his former side, but he was not letting his own misfortune in front of goal to sully the positivity in the dressing room after the full time whistle.
“I’m all about winning as the three points count all the same,” the 28-year-old said.
“If I score 10 goals or zero goals, the main thing is getting the three points.
“In the changing room, everyone was buzzing after that win, so it didn’t matter if I scored or the keeper scored. It’s all about the win.
“That helps us to achieve the goals we have set for ourselves this season.”
Victory at the Caledonian Stadium made it two wins out of two to start the Championship campaign.
Arbroath have been something of a bogey side for Caley Thistle in recent years, while Raith have been one of the most prolific attacking outfits in the division since returning to the second tier, so it has been an impressive couple of weeks for Inverness.
To get both results with clean sheets bodes particularly well for the season ahead, even if a win of any kind counts for Duku,
“1–0, 2–0, 3–0, they all count, so we’re delighted,” he insisted.
“The clean sheet gives us confidence at the back.
“If the defence keeps it tight for us then we will get our chances to score, so a 1–0 result shows that we are very hard to beat and to score against.”
