GRUDGE MATCH
Clay out to make old pal eat words in battle to beat drop
CRAIG CLAY put a roof over Louis Laing’s head but insists he was flat-out wrong to claim Inverness had a better squad than Motherwell. The Fir Park midfielder took the Englishman in as a lodger for a brief spell when he returned to Lanarkshire after spending half the season on loan at Notts County.
But he admits the 24-year-old wasn’t around for long after a January switch to Well’s relegation rivals Caley Thistle.
Laing claimed on his arrival the Highlanders had a better squad than the Steelmen.
But Clay reckons that was wide of the mark and aims to prove it when the the pair go head to head in a massive clash today, where a win for Well would move them seven points clear of Caley.
He said: “I saw the comments from Louis about the squad. He’s entitled to his opinion but I can’t say I agree. We have class players at Motherwell.
“I wouldn’t say they have a better overall squad but he can say what he wants. Whether that’s what he thinks or he’s just saying that because he’s a bit disappointed about how his time here went, I don’t know.
“I’m sure he will say his hellos to a few of the boys. He’s a nice boy and I’ve got nothing bad to say about him but there will be no friends on the pitch.
“I know him well because he stayed with me for a week and a half when he was in limbo. He wasn’t sure what his future was. So instead of paying for a hotel he crashed at mine for a bit.
“Did he pull his weight? He was alright. We weren’t cooking much but he was grateful I put him up.
“We just did the usual, put on a film or two and played FIFA. Now I need to get three points for real on Saturday.
“It’s strange to think we lived together now we will be going up against each other in such an important match. Hopefully we can put one over on him.”
Clay suffered relegation as a youngster with Chesterfield five years ago and doesn’t want a repeat north of the border.
He said: “Any of the bottom six can get dragged into it so every game is a cup final. I don’t want to have a relegation on my CV again. Hopefully we pull ourselves out of it.”
It’s strange we lived together now we go up against each other in such an important match CRAIG CLAY