Home   Sport   Article

Billy Dodds expecting expansive all-Championship Scottish Cup tie between Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Greenock Morton


By Andrew Henderson

Easier access to your trusted, local news. Subscribe to a digital package and support local news publishing.



Click here to sign up to our free newsletters!

Billy Dodds would love nothing more than to see his Inverness Caledonian Thistle squad go on a run in the Scottish Cup – but he knows it will be a tough ask against Morton to get their competition up and running.

For many, the Greenock outfit was an uninspiring draw to say the least for the third round as a team already in Caley Thistle’s division and generally known for playing defensive football.

Dodds, though, suspects Morton may come out more aggressively with it being a one-off knockout encounter, and he hopes Inverness can prevail before going on to making a bigger mark on the tournament.

“I love the Scottish Cup, I have always been a big admirer of it since I played,” Dodds reasoned.

“I always wanted to do well. I’ve won the cup, and I’ve had the odd cup shock, so I know what it’s all about. I love it, so I don’t see it as a distraction.

Dodds expects Morton to come and have a go at the Caledonian Stadium. Picture: Willie Vass
Dodds expects Morton to come and have a go at the Caledonian Stadium. Picture: Willie Vass

“Morton could come here and have a go because it’s a one-off cup tie, and it might be a more expansive game because of that.

“What doesn’t change is our focus or our mindset. We still go through training with the same preparation, trying to get a routine going.

“We can’t underestimate them even though they are second bottom of the league and they have lost their last two games. I wouldn’t say we were fantastic (last time against Morton), but we more than handled the occasion and got our goals at the right times.

“We really killed off the game and gave them no opportunities within it even though they came and had a go.

“They had two up top and one in behind as well, so they won’t just sit off us, and that’s what I think it’s going to be an expansive cup tie.”

Caley Thistle’s history with the Scottish Cup, even their runs after being relegated from the Premiership in 2017, live long in the memory of supporters.

Dodds and his players will be well aware of the associations that come to mind when combining Inverness and the competition.

However, the head coach does not expect that to become something to live up to in players’ minds, despite the weight of history potentially weighing on their shoulders.

“There’s no pressure, no,” Dodds insisted.

“When they won the cup – which was a brilliant achievement by John Hughes – they were a Premiership team, and we’re a Championship team.

“We’ll put pressure on ourselves, because we want to go on a cup run.

“I’m not saying we want to win the cup, I’m saying we want to go on a decent run. There may be pressure to get through a couple of rounds and see where it takes us, but there’s no pressure saying that we’ve got to go and do well in the cup.”


Do you want to respond to this article? If so, click here to submit your thoughts and they may be published in print.



This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies - Learn More