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Trafford wants second Challenge Cup winners' medal with Caley Thistle


By Andrew Henderson

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Charlie Trafford insists Inverness Caledonian Thistle want to win the Challenge Cup – and they will not be underestimating Alloa Athletic this afternoon.

Trafford lifted the trophy in his first season in the Highland capital, when Inverness beat Dumbarton in the final thanks to a Carl Tremarco goal in stoppage time.

That has been one of the highlights of the Canadian midfielder's career so far, and he wants to take a step towards another winners' medal with victory against Alloa at the Caledonian Stadium

Charlie Trafford is expected to play for Caley Thistle against Alloa in the Challenge Cup this afternoon. Picture: Ken Macpherson
Charlie Trafford is expected to play for Caley Thistle against Alloa in the Challenge Cup this afternoon. Picture: Ken Macpherson

"You want to win trophies, you want to win things," he said.

"It's not as big of a cup as the Scottish Cup but at the same time winning is winning. I really enjoyed it then, and we're here to win it this season. It's not just a ticking over game or anything like that, we're going on to win.

"You see Alloa went and beat Dundee United last week, so we can't underestimate anyone. We lost to Partick at home, so we can't underestimate anyone in our league, we need to go out and get the job done.

"Obviously there's that little bit of pressure, but we also know that anyone can beat anyone, so we need to stick to what we're good at and go and do our job."

Trafford was quick to praise the team spirit at the club, with last weekend's 2-0 win away at Ayr United seven days after losing to Partick Thistle one sign of the mental strength of the squad.

The 27-year-old credits his manager with putting together a squad that has ability on the pitch, and a strong camaraderie off it.

"Credit to Robbo, he has brought in a lot of players and ensured that it is a strong dressing room," Trafford explained.

"Over my last two years here, we've continued to add players to strengthen the core, but at the same time we've been adding in the right players around it and strengthening the group.

"It's a hard season, there are a lot of games, so it is important to stick together and have that strong dressing room to get through it all.

"You look at our team, even with a smaller budget there aren't many other teams' squads that I would take over ours. Robbo is good at getting the boys going and motivating them, and he has brought in a good core group and got them playing the way he wants to play."

One result of having such a strong squad is that Trafford is not a guaranteed starter every week.

He had a consistent run in the team at the end of last season, but found the middle of the park occupied at the start of the current campaign by new arrivals James Vincent and David Carson.

That is just part and parcel of the game for Trafford though, and he hopes to make his mark again soon.

"I've had to be patient here," he admitted.

"Every year it has been like that, I've had a period out of the team and then like last season, I got to play the last 20 games of the season when the team was on a good run.

"I just have to keep my head down and be ready for when the moment comes, and hopefully I'll get a good run of games again now."


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