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Billy Dodds: Inverness Caledonian Thistle aiming to qualify from group stages as campaign starts against Peterhead.


By Andrew Henderson

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For some clubs, the League Cup group stages function as a pre-season schedule, giving them four matches against good-quality opponents.

Picture - Ken Macpherson, Inverness. See story. Inverness CT’s 1st day back at training at Fort George for the new season ahead. ICT manager Billy Dodds.
Picture - Ken Macpherson, Inverness. See story. Inverness CT’s 1st day back at training at Fort George for the new season ahead. ICT manager Billy Dodds.

That is not something that Caley Thistle head coach Billy Dodds subscribes to.

His Inverness squad have already played friendlies against Highland League opposition and, most recently, Aberdeen, so while the players may not be at peak sharpness, they are certainly not starting at square one either.

Some will be further on than others in their progress, so some rotation will be used to get players who need minutes over the coming weeks in the Premier Sports Cup, but that will be done while expectations for the competition remain high from the coaching staff.

It has been five years since the Caley Jags made it into the knockout stages of the League Cup.

Dodds, though, is determined to end that run this season and lead Inverness into the second round of the competition – starting with three points at the Caledonian Stadium against Peterhead tonight.

“I’ve got a strong squad, so it will be good for some of them to get minutes under their belt, but I want to get going and do well in this group,” Dodds insisted.

“I want to get out of this group, it’s as simple as that, I can’t spin it.

“I want to go and win games that we’re capable of winning, but I want to be realistic too. Hearts will be favourites for the group, but I want to try and get out of it.

“If we do what we’re good at, then we’re more than capable. I don’t want to say we’re certainties, I just want us to do our job properly.

“I’ve had a look at Peterhead, and they’re a good team, but we have to handle them correctly. If we do that, we’re more than capable of winning, but if we don’t we could struggle.

“Everybody keeps telling me that we’ve not started seasons particularly well, so I want to start well. I’m a winner, I’ve always been a winner, I don’t want to have a poor start.”


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