What did Duncan Ferguson say after Inverness Caley Thistle lost the first leg of the Championship play-off final at Hamilton Academical?
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MANAGER Duncan Ferguson says he is confident Inverness Caledonian Thistle can overturn their first leg deficit in the Championship Play-off final and avoid relegation to League One next season.
The visitors were left shellshocked when Kevin O’Hara scored from 40 metres out after five minutes and Fergus Owens doubled their advantage midway through the first half.
Aribim Pepple pulled one back in the second half to make it 2-1 as Inverness will go into the second leg only one goal behind.
Ferguson says Caley Thistle’s second half performance gives him confidence they can win on Saturday and stay in the Championship.
He said: “It is all to play for.
“They were on their last legs and we pushed and pushed.
They played well for the first 20 minutes of the game. We changed our formation and I was really pleased with the second half performance and I was pleased with the boys resilience.
“I fancy us to score a goal, we obviously need to keep a clean sheet as Hamilton are high scoring team.”
Ferguson says he wasn’t surprised Hamilton came flying out of the traps. Although he felt Hamilton’s second goal should not have stood, believing there was a foul on goalkeeper Mark Ridgers.
“I wasn’t surprised. We knew Hamilton would come right at us and they did by causing us problems in the wide areas.
“It took a wonder goal which sums up our season. The second goal is a free kick for a foul on our goalkeeper but the referee doesn’t see it.
“We weathered the storm and i’m glad we didn’t concede another one as that would have been a bridge too far.
“All credit to our team, we got back into it and pushed them to get a goal in the second half. I am pleased to come out with a goal as in a 15 to 20 minute period we could have been 3-0 down.”
There are concerns over defender Danny Devine who could miss Saturday’s second leg with Ferguson reporting he has suffered a ligament injury.
