Connor Bell presses case for Caley Thistle starting spot
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CONNOR Bell is eager to prove to Caley Thistle boss John Robertson that he can be the man to open teams up in the Scottish Championship.
The 21-year-old forward from County Durham joined the Highlanders in the summer, but has yet to start a game.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Morton, which got them off the mark for the season, was not enough to remove them from bottom place in the table and Bell, whose last club was Servette in Switzerland, wants a crack at Brechin City this weekend to show he can make a difference after playing 28 minutes against the Ton.
“I got just short of half an hour against Morton and I’m just trying to bring the team a bit of energy up front,” he said.
“It was a difficult game to come into but I just have to take my chance when I get them. It’s a massive chance for me here at Inverness. I am grateful for the opportunity but I am not just happy to be involved. I want to create and score goals for this football club. I want to grab the opportunity with both hands.
“We have not had the best start to the season, so the Brechin game is massive for us. We will get a good week’s training and come back with the win on Saturday.
“I was happy to come off the bench and I wish I could have made more of an impact.
“Everyone has been great around the club. It’s like a family club and I’ve settled in well.
“Hopefully I can get the chance to help the team out.”
Although the Caley Jags were chasing the win against their Greenock visitors, it was a positive performance, especially in the first half when they were well on top and it came on the back of their crushing 5-1 defeat at Dunfermline the week before.
Captain Gary Warren, back after a month out with an ankle injury, netted the goal, but a second half equaliser from Robert Thomson saw Morton earn a point, with ICT defender Collin Seedorf sent off late on for a second bookable offence.
Bell saw signs of progress, but felt they should have won the match.
“We’re disappointed not to win because we played really well for the first 35 minutes and we had a few chances to put the game to bed before Morton have come back into it,” he said.
“After their goal it became a bit scrappy and we went down to 10 men and we were digging in to get the point. We were not happy because we wanted the three points but we will look at it as a point gained and we will build on it. We need to push on.
“We have to get it right at both ends of the pitch. There’s a battle in the middle but the games are being won and lost in the penalty boxes.
“We conceded five goals at Dunfermline last week, so although we conceded once on Saturday, we were better.”
Bell says the team were delighted to have their skipper Warren back and were delighted to see him score.
“Getting Gary back is a lift on and off the pitch. He is a big personality in the dressing room, so it was great to have him back. He played very well and scored our goal,” he added.
Like Bell, manager Robertson, agreed the game should have been wrapped up well before half-time, but also conceded that they had to dig deep in order not to lose it.
“I thought the first 35 minutes was excellent and we could have had four, five or six goals,” he said.
“Their keeper had three or four good saves and we rattled a few just past the post and over the bar and there were a few blocks.
“We talked all week about being clinical at both ends. We were not as clinical as we would have liked to have been. We were terrific though in the first half. Morton changed it a bit in the second half and because of the wind the game became long, which didn’t suit us and they started to get their chances.
“Again, they scored from a free header. We’d talked about it all week, about defending our box and we then had to hang in there. They created a couple of excellent opportunities, but to be fair we managed to get blocks in and Mark Ridgers made two saves near the end.
“We panicked a wee bit. When we lose a goal and things are not quite going for us we started to lose our shape and confidence.
“There is a wee fear factor here. Scott Kellacher (first-team coach) and Brian Rice (assistant manager) feel there is still a hangover from last season. When we lose a goal we panic, but we need to snap out of that and be strong and resolute and hang tough because in this league teams will have spells in the game.
“Eventually we got back into it and George Oakley had a chance with a header then a couple whistled across the goal.
“I felt it was also a soft sending off for Collin Seedorf. I don’t think he’s done too much wrong and we ended up getting a point when, after 35 minutes, the game should be sewn up and we’d be sitting in the middle of the league.”
Caley Thistle handed a debut to Canadian midfielder Charlie Trafford at the weekend and he did not look out of place, while former Dundee United defender Coll Donaldson, who signed a short-term contract at the end of last week, was on the bench.
The Caley Jags were also linked with a loan move for Ross County’s Greg Morrison, although it looks unlikely at this stage for a deal to happen.
“I’m not sure what’s going to come about but nothing has been agreed and he’s in my squad for the under-20s game tomorrow,” said County under-20s coach Stuart Kettlewell.
“If he’s going to go somewhere we want to pitch it at the highest level we can because we believe he can play there.”
