We don’t monkey around
Dick’s fed up of disrespect at Arbroath
DICK CAMPBELL reckons Arbroath’s battling point with title-chasing Caley Thistle proves they aren’t monkeying around at the top of the Championship.
But he continues to insist avoiding the drop into League One is the priority at Gayfield instead of going up to the Premiership against the odds.
The top two fought out a torrid draw yesterday – a result that leaves the Red Lichties three points clear of the Highlanders at the summit.
Inverness gaffer Billy Dodds claimed before the game that you would be mad to write off Campbell’s part-timers for a shock promotion push.
He repeated that claim after yesterday’s stalemate and Campbell agreed that writing off his troops is disrespectful.
The Arbroath boss said: “Everyone thinks because we’re a part-time club we’re a set of monkeys. But we’re not a set of monkeys. We’re a well-organised unit.
“I’m not unhappy with the result but anyone watching couldn’t have argued if we had won. But it wasn’t a day for fancy football. The wind doesn’t half blow in Arbroath and that made it difficult.”
Despite staying top of the pile, Campbell is still refusing to get carried away. He said: “Inverness want to win this league where we just want to stay in it.
“Doddsy will have to win it to try to keep his job. I know Billy and I mean that with the greatest of respect. But we need another two points to be safe.
“I’m not talking about playoffs, I’m not interested in that.”
Dodds, though, believes the part-timers will stay in the hunt for a top-four finish.
He said: “Anybody who writes them off is off their head.
“We beat them in the first game of the season here and they’ve lost only one other game since then. So I think they are going to go the whole hog.
“They might be losing a couple of loan players this month but they’ve brought in the big striker Jack Hamilton from Livi.
“A draw was a fair result. I expected that kind of game when I saw the conditions.
“When I went in at half-time I told them to forget everything I’d told them the day before. We just had to play the elements. So I’m satisfied with the outcome, we showed spirit.”
Inverness had the strong wind at their backs in the opening period but it took them until the 20th minute to threaten when a Scott Allardice shot was tipped over the bar by Derek Gaston.
Shortly after Aaron Doran cut in from the left and curled an effort just past the post.
Then Joel Nouble, in his final appearance at Gayfield before returning to Livingston, twice forced saves from Mark Ridgers and also teed up a chance for Colin Hamilton who fired over.
Arbroath came out with all guns blazing in the second half and James Craigen came close.
Then David Carson’s 25-yarder hit the outside of the upright but the hosts still had the upper hand.
They thought they’d won it when Jack Hamilton deflected home a Craigen shot but it was ruled out for offside.