UNDERDOG TAG DRIVES DRAPER TO SUCCESS
THERE is a theory which circulates around certain quarters of Scottish football that you might as well shut the A9 at Perth, that no selfrespecting fan could possibly harbour even the slightest modicum of interest in the clubs which lie further north. But, for Inverness Caledonian Thistle’s Ross Draper, that perceived sense of snobbish entitlement from all those outwith the Highlands only adds to the siege mentality which has been utilised so successfully in recent years by the club. Draper normally plays in central midfield but was forced to deputise at centre-half in Saturday’s draw at St Johnstone after a freakish run of injuries ravaged the Caley Thistle squad down to its bare bones. And, with manager John Hughes able to name only five substitutes from a possible seven, and rarely a man who needs any encouragement to be backed into the direction of a corner, Draper believes that their injury crisis has only fuelled their underdog mentality. ‘For the three years I’ve been at the club, we’ve always been treated as the underdogs,’ said the 26-year-old. ‘We always seem as though we are backed into a corner. We are fully aware that most other clubs don’t want the likes of ourselves or Ross County to be in the Premiership. ‘Nobody likes travelling up the A9. I don’t even like travelling back myself when I’ve been back home visiting family in England! ‘But both Highland clubs have done tremendously well in recent seasons and I think we both relish the tag of being underdogs and use it to our advantage.’ With injuries to regular first-team players like Aaron Doran, Josh Meekings, Richie Foran, Gary Warren and James Vincent, it has been a desperately unlucky period for the reigning Scottish Cup holders. ‘It has been really strange for us because there have been some days where we have only had 10 fit outfield players to train with,’ added Draper. ‘You can’t train properly when that is the case and it’s difficult to get your rhythm going — especially when it’s so early in the season. ‘We had 25 days off after winning the Scottish Cup, then came back in for pre-season to get ourselves ready for the Europa League games, and we’ve just had a freak run of injuries. ‘I had to fill in at centre-half and I felt as though I actually played quite well, but one lapse in concentration in the 90th minute is what cost us the three points, so I will need to learn from that. ‘But, all in all, we need to take the positives from the game. We only had 12 fit players in the build-up to the game, with some trialists, so it’s actually a point gained for us in that respect.’ Caley Thistle took the lead after just nine minutes. Spanish striker Dani Lopez led a swift counter-attack after St Johnstone had gifted him possession in the middle of the park. The ball then broke to Ryan Christie on the edge of the box, who jinked past his marker and rifled a left-footed strike low across Saints keeper Alan Mannus into the bottom corner. St Johnstone failed to lay a glove on the visitors during the first half, their performance lacking in cohesion and too disjointed and direct to make an impact on the game — something which was made clear to them by manager Tommy Wright at the break. ‘The boss gave us a bit of a rocket at half-time,’ admitted Saints midfielder Liam Craig. ‘We were miles off the pace in the first half, so he was right to have a go at us.’ And they did react, although it took until the 90th minute. Joe Shaughnessy flighted a hopeful ball into the box for Graham Cummins to leap highest and flick a great header into the top corner.