Head coach praises secretary who kept Inverness Caley Thistle in the Scottish Cup to face Livingston in the fifth round
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HEAD coach Billy Dodds paid tribute to club secretary Fiona McWilliams who spotted the player error made by Queen’s Park which kept Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup.
Queen’s Park were thrown out of the competition after it was discovered Euan Henderson was ineligible to play for them in their 2–0 win against Inverness in the fourth round tie.
Henderson arrived on loan at Queen’s Park from Hearts, six days after the original clash was postponed in heavy snow at the Caledonian Stadium.
Scottish Cup rule 12.5 states only players signed for the first match can be involved in the rescheduled game.
McWilliams informed Dodds during the match that Henderson should not have been playing in the game.
While it is wasn’t the way he wanted Inverness to progress to the next round to face Livingston tomorrow, Dodds says he is grateful to McWilliams for spotting the error.
“I have got to give my secretary, Fiona McWilliams, a huge mention as she was the first to notice the error.
“That’s the reason we’re through the tie.
The SFA have also to do their job, but I’m lucky I’ve got a brilliant secretary who was on it. That’s a big reason we are where we are.
“Fiona came to me at half-time and was the first to spot it. I said ‘let’s move on and get it out of our heads’.
“It is down to her. It was always going to be noticed and I’m sure the SFA would do their job as well.”
As a result of the administration error, Inverness travel down to Livingston to battle it out for a place in the quarter finals.
Dodds hopes receiving a reprieve in the tournament can inspire them to go another cup run.
“Determination comes into it because we realise this is a chance we thought had gone and that determination is there and that’s human nature. Let’s be more determined this time and have no slip-ups. We gave a good account of ourselves against Queen’s Park.
“We were not at our best in what was a hard-fought game but we had great opportunities within the game. Because Queen’s Park beat us, people think Livingston will do the same, but bring it on.”
