ROBBO WILL BE PROUD
Stand-in gaffer McCann hails ICT stars for holding Jambos with boss Robertson having to watch action from home
CARETAKER Neil McCann reckons Caley’s battling draw with league leaders Hearts would have made boss John Robertson proud.
Robbo is on compassionate leave and McCann has taken the reins, with assistant gaffer Scott Kellacher also off sick.
The former Jambos winger saw Miles Storey open the scoring on his dugout debut before Liam Boyce hit back for the Jambos.
McCann said: “I’m very proud. I’m hoping they have made their manager and Scott proud at home as well.
“I said to them, it’s not easy when a new guy comes in.
“They have been through so much as a club, they have had to react to losing their manager and assistant, then a new guy has come in and asked them to do something different.
“I have only had one-and-ahalf sessions with them but I don’t think anybody watching that would deny them a pat on the back for their work-rate. I thought it was exceptional.”
The Foundation of Heartsinspired buy-up of virtual tickets, acknowledging past Inverness gestures of solidarity, topped 11,000 before kick-off, guaranteeing the hard-pressed Highlanders a windfall approaching £100,000.
Nevertheless, the first half proved a physical contest spiked with venom in the tackle from both sides.
The Jambos had stuttered in successive draws against Morton and Queen of the South and again looked below their best.
Inverness made the brightest
INVERNESS ...... HEARTS ...... 1 of starts and from that early promise a 10th-minute opener materialised.
James Keatings spotted a darting run from Storey, who showed strength nipping between two Jambos defenders before clipping a 10-yard shot high beyond keeper Craig Gordon’s reach.
From there, Caley Thistle bristled with energy and Hearts’ passes went astray.
It might have been 2-0 after only 20 minutes had Shane Sutherland not been blocked twice close-in by Gordon.
Yellow cards were drawn against both sides in the first half – four in all – but Hearts grew in constructive threat, with Mihai Popescu skewing a header wide in front of goal from Aaron McEneff ’s corner after 31 minutes. Five minutes later, the leveller did come, despite howls from the home players for offside.
McEneff ’s free-kick wide left hit the Inverness wall but his second delivery found Craig Halkett leaping high to knock down a header.
Boyce claimed his 11th goal of the season with a close-range touch past home keeper Mark Ridgers.
It remained spicy into the second half with Gordon and David Carson taking bookings after squaring up.
Hearts began to enjoy a predominance of possession but there was often a lack of quality and conviction when the ball was worked into the danger areas.
The hosts always held a threat on the counter and seemed to retain a belief they could regain the lead despite generating only a couple of wild attempts from distance.
The best chance of the second half came as 90 minutes slipped by as Jambos striker Armand Gnanduillet cut a shot beyond the far post from a sharp angle inside the right of the home box.
At the death, Inverness felt Nikolay Todorov was fouled on the break but their appeals were waved away.
The draw stretched Hearts’ title lead to 12 points and boss Robbie Neilson said: “It was probably a fair result.
“They probably had the better early chances, then we had some good chances.
“It is another draw, that’s three on the bounce now, so we need to get back to winning.
“But we are 12 points clear which is a great achievement.”
JIM GOODWIN helped Michael Gardyne find his feet at Celtic but that won’t stop the Ross County star trying to floor his St Mirren side today.
A teenage Gardyne had just signed pro forms with the Hoops when Goodwin was a couple of years older and had already established himself in their youth ranks.
Goodwin along with his fellow Irish hopefuls Colin Healy and the late Liam Miller were all there to give Gardyne and their fellow hopefuls a helping hand.
“Jim was at Celtic in my first season,” Gardyne said.
“He was a good few years older than me but he was brilliant. Him, Liam Miller and Colin Healy, all the Irish lads were close together but they looked after the young lads.
“I was travelling through from Dundee. That Irish band of lads were brilliant with us. I knew Jim from then and I played against him when he was at St Mirren and Alloa.
“He gave me a few knee-high tackles in his day!
“I get on fine with Jim when I see him, I talk to him. He is doing a great job where he is just now.”
Today’s game will also see County and Gardyne go up against their former captain
Marcus Fraser. The pair are friends but words have been to the point this week.
He said: “I speak to Marcus every now and again. His wee man is the same age as my daughter, so we send snapchats to each other.
“I spoke to him the other day about the weekend and all he said was, ‘I’ll see you on the battlefield.’
“It just sums Marcus Fraser up, that’s how he talks. He’s not really one for getting involved in the banter or stuff like that, so that just sums him up.”
Gardyne acknowledges that County are still in a fight for survival, despite scrambling out of the bottom two last week.
He said: “It is really tight. There are three teams down there just now. It’s all about what those three do.
“If we are winning, and Hamilton are getting wins, it’s going to drag a couple of others into it.
“It’s the old cliche but it is true, you just need to look after yourselves. We can only affect what we do and where Ross County are going to be in the league.
“That needs to be our main focus.”
KILMARNOCK have had more of a dull thud than a bounce since the arrival of Tommy Wright.
But the Rugby Park manager is adamant a run of three 1-0 defeats since taking the reins from Alex Dyer – and eight losses in a row – can be halted now he’s drummed into his squad the mantra that you can’t score if you don’t shoot.
Five games without a goal tells only half the story. Wright was shocked to find players were scared to shoot even in training sessions for fear of missing.
But he believes the arrival of Kyle Lafferty – a man never short of self-belief – can catapult 11th-placed Killie on a run that will see them leave behind the spectre of relegation, starting today against Dundee United at Rugby Park.
Wright said: “We haven’t scored a lot of goals this season and that’s the reason we brought Kyle in. It was evident, particularly against Motherwell.
“Kyle did give us a bit more of an edge when he came on against Aberdeen.
“Everything has been positive since we came in. The quality of training has been very good but there was a tendency – even in training – for people not to take responsibility and take a shot at goal, so we’ve tried to encourage that.
“What we do on the training pitch is all geared towards trying to win games and obviously a huge part of that is scoring goals.”
Northern Ireland ace Lafferty, 33, is in line for his first start today.
And Wright knows a goal – after 508 minutes without one – and a win are imperative.
He said: “We’re realistic, we need to start picking up points. But the quality in the squad is there, they’ve proved that before. The number of games isn’t a concern yet because there are a lot of points for us to turn it around.
“The concern would be if we were relying on other people to lose when it gets down to the last two or three games.
“Kyle’s in the frame. He came on at Aberdeen last Saturday and that was his first 45 minutes for a while. I was pleased with him. He’s now had another good week’s training and he’s raring to go.
“We have to be careful with him simply because he’s an older player – he’s in his 30s – and we need to manage him in the same way we do with all the other players of that age in the squad so they can get out there and help the team.” The departure of Stuart Findlay to Philadelphia Union freed up wages to bring in Lafferty and fellow frontman Greg Kiltie believes the former Rangers striker’s larger-than-life personality can help Killie on and off the pitch. Kiltie said: “Signing Kyle, with the qualities he has and his experience, can help us to score goals again. “We’ve seen that he is a big personality and he brings a lot around the place. Hopefully he does. That’s what the gaffer and the boys are hoping for, that on and off the pitch he can bring something.”
We need to start picking up points but the quality in the squad is there TOMMY WRIGHT ON TURNING TIDE AT KILLIE
JOSH DOIG admits Andy Robertson and Kieran Tierney are inspiring him to fulfil his dream of playing in Europe with Hibs.
But the Easter Road teenage star has revealed he’s still nervous about the prospect of playing in front of fans after signing a new long-term deal.
Doig, 18, has committed until 2025 after a meteoric rise this season, capped by his first senior goal in last week’s win over Hamilton.
Now he has the other half of Lanarkshire in his sights as he targets a final push for third and a crack at European football next season.
Tierney netted in Arsenal’s win over Benfica on Thursday to book their place in the Europa League last 16.
And Robertson is on course for Champions League progress with Liverpool after winning the tournament in 2019. Doig, who had a loan spell at Robertson’s former club Queen’s Park last season, looks up to his fellow Scottish left-backs.
He said: “There is a major sense of excitement within and around the club.
“I get texts from my pals, who are all massive Hibs fans, and they’re saying they’ll be coming to every single away game if we do get into Europe.
“To play in Europe and fly away to play football in all these different countries would be a dream come true.
“It’s the big final push now and what a moment that would be for the club and for me, in my breakthrough season, to do that.
“I’ve never experienced an atmosphere that is bad for my first season and my first goal – there being no fans to cheer is a bit of a downer.
“It’s probably a good thing in the sense breaking into a first-team environment, there’s not the boos and abuse you might get. “But it’s weird, almost like a development game. It’s something I’m looking forward to. Hopefully it’s soon. I’m nervous but I’m looking forward to it.” On Robbo and KT, he said: “Being Scottish, they are a massive inspiration. “Seeing where they both came from, with Andy at Queen’s Park, like me, that gives me hope.
“I watch as much of them as I can and try to base my game on them because they’re such attacking leftbacks and also aggressive in the defensive sense.”
Doig had no doubts about signing a new deal despite Jack Ross admitting he’d be on the radar of top clubs.
He added: “What’s for me won’t go by me, I know that but I’m happy here.
“I love coming in every day. I love Hibs. I have to push harder than I ever have now the club have shown loyalty and trust in myself.”
ASH TAYLOR accepts this may end up being the season in which finishing third could be the key to group stage football in Europe.
If the Scottish Cup isn’t completed on time, then the team who finish behind Rangers and Celtic will go into the third qualifying round of the Europa League, with the safety blanket of falling into the newly-formed Europa Conference League.
The teams who finish fourth and fifth would go into the latter but Taylor knows that third could well open up two Euro assaults.
That is why the incentive is there for the Dons, who have qualified for Europe seven years straight, to haul in Hibs.
The big defender said: “We just need to concentrate on ourselves and taking maximum points from the games we have left. If we do that, we won’t be far away.
“If we get to third spot, we know it means fewer games to get to that play-off.
“Getting third would get us closer to that play-off round and if we could get that, then we all know the rewards to the club would be massive. There is an incentive to try to get to that group stage of Euro competition.”
The 30-year-old Englishman knows Aberdeen’s hopes will be boosted if they topple fading champions Celtic today.
The Dons narrowly lost to the Hoops 10 days ago but return to Glasgow looking to capitalise on Neil Lennon’s departure as boss.
Taylor said: “We’re going into the game with a bit of confidence and looking to get the three points we need.
“They’re still a good side, they’ve got good players and we know they’re a threat.
“When they turn up, they’re a very good side. We’re well aware of their threat.
“We need to know what we’re doing in terms of getting at their weaknesses.
“That’s what we planned for over the last couple of days and we’ll go there looking to get those three points.”
Aberdeen suffered a setback with Fraser Hornby out with a torn thigh muscle.
It leaves them with only two available strikers in Flo Kamberi and Callum Hendry. St Johnstone loanee Hendry got his first Dons goal against Kilmarnock last week and Taylor knows ex-Hibs star Kamberi has genuine quality.
The defender added: “I like Florian. I’ve played against him and he’s a handful.
“It’s nice to have him on our side now!
“The goals will come for him and hopefully sooner rather than later.
“We know what his performances have been – they’ve been influential in getting us up the pitch and looking after the ball.
“He has been fantastic and he’s had a really good start here.”
Taylor knows if the frontmen do come good, Aberdeen will have a real chance of closing Hibs’ four-point cushion, having kept 17 clean sheets this season.
He said: “It is pleasing. Clean sheets are what the defenders and goalkeeper base their game on. If we manage a clean sheet we’ll be fine but it’s just disappointing we’ve not been able to capitalise on our clean sheets by scoring goals.
“It’s just putting those two things together and getting wins.”
A successful end to the season could also be important to Taylor’s future. In his second spell at Pittodrie, he is out of contract in the summer and looking to win a new deal in the Granite City.
Taylor, whose team-mate Jonny Hayes will be given until the last minute today to get over his hamstring problem, said: “The gaffer and I have a good relationship. When that conversation happens, it happens. But right now I’m just concentrating on the football.
“We are at the business end of the season. We need to focus on winning games and get results for Aberdeen.
“The gaffer and I get on well so we will have that conversation when the time is right.”
When they turn up, they are a very good side. We are well aware of their threat ASH TAYLOR ON HOOPS