The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Building blocks to success
Semi-finals: Chalmers eyes final say as Caley Jags draw Crusaders at home
Caley Thistle have been drawn at home to Northern Irish side Crusaders in the semi-finals of the IRNBRU Cup.
Inverness were yesterday drawn against the parttime Belfast men, who eliminated Dundee United from the competition with a 2-1 quarter-final victory at Tannadice on Saturday.
The Highlanders will take on the Hatchetmen, who finished second in the NIFL Premiership last season, at Caledonian Stadium on the weekend of February 17 and 18.
The match marks a dip into the unknown for John Robertson’s men but midfielder Joe Chalmers is relishing the tie.
Chalmers said: “I’m happy to get the tie at home, we always fancy ourselves that wee bit more.
“It will be a tough game, though, with the result they got against Dundee United.
“It’s exciting to get something different though. This competition offers us the chance to play against teams we would not normally play against.
“The tie is not for another wee while so it gives us a bit of time. The staff will be doing plenty work on them and having a good look at them.
“We will know as much about them as possible by the time the game comes around.”
Should Inverness progress past Stephen Baxter’s side they will set up a final encounter against The New Saints or Dumbarton, who meet in the other last-four tie.
Caley Jags made it seven matches without defeat and without conceding with their 1-0 win against Falkirk in Saturday’s quarter-final tie.
The recent form has reignited hopes of winning promotion back to the top flight following a poor start to the Championship campaign, and Chalmers is intent on carrying on the good form, with the 23-year-old adding: “We are on a good run but there is plenty work still to do.
“The clean sheets we are getting just now is good for our confidence and we are looking forward to every game. We are trying to close the gap week-by-week.
“The manager always said February is when the real business starts so we will try and have a right push.
“The boys are still very confident we can at least make the play-offs although we are still focusing on trying to win the league.
“Our first priority is to keep closing the gap though.”
Inverness are not back in action until Tuesday when they host bottomof-the-table Brechin City in a rearranged Championship encounter. Chalmers, who joined Caley Jags from Motherwell in the summer, feels the time off will benefit the squad, adding: “That’s a big help for us. The competitive games started with the Betfred Cup and in the Championship we’ve not had international breaks.
“It has been a lot of games and this has been our first chance to have a break.
“The manager was good enough to give us four days off and that can only do us good. Come Tuesday we will be raring to go against Brechin City.”
“At home, we always fancy ourselves that wee bit more”