Champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle Development say it is too early to be worried about form of title rivals
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Caley Thistle Development coach Iain Firth says it is too early in the season to be concerned about the Highlands and Islands League title race.
ICT host current league leaders Buckie Thistle on Sunday at Ferry Brae, with only goal difference separating the two sides and Clachnacuddin as things stand.
Inverness are the defending champions, but they have already lost to city rivals Clach, so a further defeat this weekend could see them lose ground on the top of the table.
However, Firth is remaining calm, pointing out there is a long way to go before the title’s destination will be decided.
“You want to go out and try to win all of your games,” Firth reasoned.
“We will go out there and do our best. I suppose what we don’t want to do is lose.
“Buckie still have to play Clach, so if they are capable of beating us then they are capable of beating Clach too.
“We’ve got to rethink our strategy against Clach next time, and hopefully we’ll give them a better game.
“We’re only in the first part of the season, so everything is still to play for.
“Nobody can go through any league and not lose points. You’re going to get beaten at some point, so we just have to take it and regroup.”
Buckie have a perfect record in the league so far.
However, they have yet to face Clachnacuddin or ICT Development, so Firth is certainly not worried about the form their rivals have shown.
“On any day, any team can be beaten,” he stressed.
“That’s the attitude you take into every game, you can’t go in fearing the worst.
“You’ve got to go out there and try and make them fear you. That’s all you can do.
“Football is a certain amount tactics, a certain amount of grit and a certain amount of luck. You’ve got to try and get that combination right.
“At the moment we’re just taking each game as it comes and we’ll see where we’re at.
“One of the hardest things for any club in my experience is to try and win titles back-to-back. There are probably four or five teams that can win this league.
“I’m not too worried – I’m just not playing it up too much and not playing it down too much. We’ll just take each game as it comes.”
