Manager concedes defeat in Inverness Caledonian Thistle promotion bid
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle Women manager Karen Mason says the focus will now turn to building for next season after suffering another setback in their Championship North promotion bid.
They lost out to leaders East Fife last weekend despite having more possession and creating far more opportunities, but profligacy in front of goal cost them dearly.
A 2–1 defeat left them 12 points behind the top two, which included Montrose who have a game in hand, with nine matches left to play.
With games against Dryburgh Athletic today and two against Montrose in the weeks to come, Mason admits it is unrealistic to believe Inverness can force their way back into the reckoning at the top of the table.
So for Mason, the rest of this season is all about making sure her squad are in a position to come back stronger for 2022/23.
“I think realistically, yes, promotion is gone,” Mason admitted.
“It’s too much of a hill to climb with the games we’ve got left, so now it’s a case of trying to put performances in that we can build on for next season.
“We’ll obviously be trying to improve our performances, because we’ve got to think about next year as well.
“It’s just a case of trying to take what we do in training into games. We’re a different team in training sometimes, and it’s more frustrating that we can’t do that on a Sunday.
“We’ve struggled against some of the more physical teams.
“Maybe it just took another season for some people to get used to the more physical side. That will be a benefit for them.”
Mason will be missing some players for the match at Millburn Academy this afternoon.
Kirsty Deans is back playing shinty, while Nicola Ross and Charlotte Arrowsmith are both away on top of long term injuries Jana Brady and Katie Clelland.
