Dumbarton’s administration and moving up to ninth in League One changes nothing for Inverness Caley Thistle, says player/coach Billy Mckay ahead of trip to Dumfries to take on Queen of the South
Inverness Caledonian Thistle player/coach Billy Mckay says League One rivals Dumbarton falling into administration changes nothing in the Highland capital.
The Caley Jags rose up to ninth in the table after Dumbarton were hit with the same 15-point deduction ICT were penalised with earlier in the season.
However, while undoubtedly a boost to Caley Thistle’s chances of avoiding relegation, Mckay says the message to the playing squad has been that their approach will not be any different.
In fact, given Inverness have picked up several results since the hammer blow of administration, the ICT record goalscorer believes that it could provide similar inspiration for The Sons going forward.
"First and foremost it's never nice to see someone else in that position, especially when we're going through that,” Mckay explained.
"You don't wish it on any club. Dumbarton will be going through a difficult time, and reports say that not many – if any – players will be leaving which is a bonus, because you never want to see anyone lose their job.
"It doesn't change our objective. We always wanted to try and catch two teams in this league, and we still want to catch another team to avoid being in the bottom two at the end of the season.
"We're still the underdogs in the league, and we're still in a position where we could get relegated.
"Our message to the players this week has been that it doesn't affect us. We still have to go into every game looking to win games of football and catch the teams above us.
"For us, it put a fire in our bellies, and Dumbarton will have seen our reaction. We've got seven points from four games, so we might inspire them a bit.
"That's the target for them, to catch us as quickly as possible, and our objective is to stay away from them and catch the teams above us."
Next up for Inverness on their quest to catch the teams above them in League One is a trip to Queen of the South.
Caley Thistle will be without the services of Jake Davidson who went off injured in last weekend’s win over Alloa Athletic, and Keith Bray who picked up a shoulder issue in the build-up to that game.
Both men are still being assessed, with no timelines set for their recoveries.
Mckay, though, personally has happy memories of playing against Queen of the South, scoring the only goal of the match when the two teams met in the Highland capital earlier this season and having scored both goals in a 2-1 win for ICT at Palmerston Park in November 2021.
"Funny story about that, I was supposed to drive home after the game and my car wouldn't start, so me and my dad ended up spending the night there,” Mckay recalled.
"We won 2-1, and it's obviously a long travel to go and play on the Astroturf. It's a notoriously tough place to go, but we've got to make sure we've prepared right and put in a performance.
"If we do that, we believe we can get the win."
An added wrinkle to this weekend’s match could be the appearance of Adam Brooks, playing for Queens against his former club.
Brooks was one of five players to leave the Caley Jags when they entered administration, and Mckay says Inverness know exactly how much of a threat he could be on Saturday.
"First and foremost it's great to see him getting a club so quickly,” he added.
"Four out of the five lads who left us have got clubs, which is great to see and I'm really happy for them.
"I'm sure Adam will have a point to prove against us on Saturday.
"We know the qualities he has, he's a really good finisher, so if he's on the pitch we have to be aware of that and try to snuff him out.
"Overall, I wish him the best – just not this Saturday."
