Decisions on fitness of Inverness Caley Thistle players will go to the wire
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Billy Dodds intends on making late decisions on several Inverness Caledonian Thistle players who are battling for fitness – including Jay Henderson and Danny Devine.
Henderson, who has impressed since moving to the Highland capital on loan in January, was forced off with an ankle issue early in last weekend’s trip to Morton.
Devine, meanwhile, had been slated to start against Partick Thistle two weeks ago, only to aggravate an existing calf knock.
That setback led to a chain reaction of late changes to Dodds’ starting 11 that night, with Zak Delaney moving from full back to centre back, Cameron Harper returning to the left side of defence from midfield and Lewis Hyde – who himself has featured in both defence and midfield – coming into the middle of the pitch at short notice.
The value of having such versatile players is not lost on Dodds, and that could be important again this weekend if the late fitness calls go against Caley Thistle.
“Jay has responded well,” Dodds explained.
“He has a chance of playing on Saturday, which is great news for us.
“Big Danny is very similar to Jay, it will be a last minute decision to see where he is.
“That one was a calf tweak that has kept him out for longer than we hoped, but he’s not far away.
“There are a few responding well, but we’ll have to see again. We have a meeting every Thursday or Friday, depending on how many we’re waiting on.
“It has happened a lot this season where we have picked three or four teams before the weekend.
“We have to have various plans ready, so we’re always prepared in case one or two players don’t make it and we have to shuffle them about.
“It’s a credit to my players that they’ve shown so much versatility.
“David Carson has gone back to right back, Zak has been all across the defence, so there are a lot of players that have shown versatility and it has served us well.
“We’ve needed to shuffle them about, plus get results, and that’s what we’ve done.”
The business end of the season, with so much on the line, brings its own unique set of pressures – but Dodds says there is also an excitement that comes with it, adding: “That’s fair to say from a staff point of view and players’ point of view, but also the fans’ point of view.
“They will buy into it like they did last year when they came in their numbers.
“We’re hoping for that momentum to grow, we’re hoping for a big crowd on Saturday and three points, because we’re right in it now. We weren’t a few weeks back, but the response has been magnificent.”
