The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Petrie reckons all pressure is on ICT
Stewart Petrie believes all the pressure is on Inverness as he aims to guide his Montrose side to a historic promotion into the Championship.
The Links Park side finished fourth in League One to clinch a play-off spot, and they will now face Duncan Ferguson’s side who are battling to remain in the second tier.
Montrose have reached the play-offs in four of the last five seasons, though have yet to make it past the semi-final stage.
In their last play-off outing, in 2022, the Gable Endies led Airdrie 3-0 on aggregate, but went on to lose a sensational secondleg 6-4 – conceding the decisive goal in the final minute of extra time.
“We were always going to go in as big underdogs – we’ll go into the game as confident as we can be with a realisation of the strength of the opposition,” Petrie said.
“We’ll go and give it our best shot and try to give a good account of ourselves.
“In previous play-off games, we’ve been pretty good at home. It’s been the second legs that have let us down.
“We’re all buzzing for it, it’s a fantastic position for the club to be in. There’s no pressure on us, we’re not expected to win.
“The last time we were in a play-off, we were three goals up against Airdrie going into the second half and lost that – there’s obviously scars from that.
“We keep saying to them, these are the moments you cherish, when you are playing in a play-off game at the right end of the table rather than the wrong end.
“You can draw on previous experience, but also we’ve not gone beyond the semifinal stage, that’s something of a bogey for us.”
Montrose mounted an impressive fightback to defeat Queen of the South in their final league fixture of the season.
Petrie’s side have now registered back-to-back victories, putting a difficult run of form behind them. Their play-off opponents also signed off their campaign with a win, defeating Morton 3-1 on Friday evening.
For the Montrose boss, it was a demonstration of the quality the Championship side possess, but he insists his team have to relish the challenge.
“I’m sure Duncan will have his players ready for the game, there’s no doubt about that,” he added.
“Of course, when you are fighting to stay in the league rather than going into a new league, there’s more pressure on you and that just comes with the fact of where you finish in the league.
“I’m sure they’ll handle that and it won’t be an issue, they’ll be ready
– they’ve got too many good players for them not to be.
“The last time Montrose had that pressure, they could have fallen out the football league and were playing against a Highland League club – it’s certainly much better playing play-offs at the other side.”
Caley Jags winger Luis Longstaff and forward Alex Samuel have recovered from knee and facial knocks and are expected to be ready for the clash with the Gable Endies.
Midfielder Sean McAllister will face a fitness test as he has a groin strain.
A knee injury sustained on a synthetic surface in 2022 means on-loan Wigan defender James Carragher will likely sit this one out due to Links Park having a plastic pitch, with Ferguson erring on the side of caution.
Ferguson, however, has no concerns about the Links Park surface, pointing to the 3-2 win at Raith Rovers as the ideal example of ICT performing on plastic.
He added: “Montrose will be fired up and have won their last couple of games (against Kelty Hearts and Queen of the South). It’s on a plastic pitch. We’re not used to that, so it is a big advantage to them. Hopefully we can overcome that.
“We’re good enough, so we’ll be going down there to win the game.
“Our away form certainly gives us confidence.”