Inverness Caley Thistle manager Billy Dodds leaps to defence of back four with praise after win over Arbroath
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HEAD coach Billy Dodds praised the solidness of his defence as Inverness Caledonian Thistle cruised to a 4-1 victory over Arbroath at Gayfield.
But it was the back four of Daniel Devine, Zak Delaney, Wallace Duffy and David Carson who drew the plaudits from the manager saying despite a shaky first half, they were outstanding after the break.
"I thought my back four was excellent in the second half, but in the first half, they were slapping things and Arbroath were nearly scoring," he said.
"But in the second half, as much as my front men were great and were dangerous and got the goals, my back four were brilliant, rock solid.
"My front players were causing havoc anyway and that's all I wanted, but also praise to my back four because, as much as I'm giving them stick for the first half, they were brilliant in the second half."
After a run of eight matches without a win, Inverness have won their first two matches of 2023, which included a 6-1 thrashing of Cove Rangers, and have scored 10 goals in their last two games.
Inverness face a massive match against Queen's Park at the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday. The Spiders went four points clear at the top of the Championship after they thrashed Cove Rangers 6-0 in Aberdeen.
The two teams will then meet again at the same venue in the Scottish Cup fourth round, seven days later.
Dodds says he knows next weekend is a tough proposition, but his team are in a good place in terms of morale.
"The Queen's Park games will be tasty. They go into after eight wins (in all competitions) and they are growing as a team and as a club.
"But when we were not at our best, we were still competitive against them, so they will be tasty. I'm looking forward to them."
He was also pleased with how his other loan signing, Daniel Mackay from Hibernian, played at Gayfield and also got on the scoresheet.
However, Mackay was taken off in the second half after suffering an injury, but Dodds says it doesn't look as bad as initially feared.
"Daniel MacKay had an impact injury and a bit of bruising," said Dodds.
Speaking about the pair's performances, Dodds said: "Jay Henderson has got quality, but it was also good for Daniel Mackay, who looked great as the game went on, to look dangerous and got his goal.
"When we were offensively not as good as we can be, I thought it might take a lot of work, but the response from the Partick Thistle game has been magnificent.
"I have nothing but praise for them. Ten goals comes from doing the right things and winning the right balls in midfield and creating."
