Broadfoot grateful to boss Dodds who made it easy to keep playing

Kirk Broadfoot has thanked boss Billy Dodds for making his 50/50 decision to join Inverness a winning one.

The 37-year-old former Scotland, Rangers, St Mirren and Kilmarnock defender, whose family home is in Ayrshire, had plenty to ponder when ICT head coach Dodds made a move to bring him north this summer.

He had just been part of a Kilmarnock side that dropped down from the Premiership and was weighing up whether he wanted to keep playing.

However, Dodds and Broadfoot agreed he’d be allowed extra time away to see his children and wife, with his home gym keeping him ticking over when away from the Highlands. He signed a one-year deal in July and is loving it so far.

The experienced defender has repaid the club by helping the team rack up clean sheets in four straight 1-0 wins, including Saturday’s victory at his old club Killie, which saw Caley Thistle replace them at the top of the Championship.

Broadfoot said the decision to join Inverness has proved the right one due to the agreement he has with Dodds, with the support of his family.

He said: “I am enjoying my time at Inverness. The manager, players and staff have been great with me. The manager has let me go home a lot to see my family, which is great.

“It’s been hard being away from my kids at times, but the manager has helped. When we first spoke about the move, I wasn’t up for going as it meant being away from my family.

“It took some persuading the family for me to make the move. The manager gave me leeway and my wife gave me the go-ahead.

“It’s difficult for her at times, getting the kids picked up and working, but she told me to go and enjoy this for another year and that’s what I’m doing.

“The manager spoke about giving me extra days off and, at my age, sometimes you need those. The manager knows what I’m like. Luckily, I’ve got a gym at the house, which helps and it’s all working so far.

“You have to be somewhere you are enjoying football, so that relationship with the manager is huge. He is a good guy and the players want to play for him.”

Michael Gardyne netted the only goal of the game as ICT replaced Killie at the top of the table.

Broadfoot believes the fact even captain Sean Welsh hasn’t won his way back into the team after injury shows the quality of the squad.

He added: “We have a good balance to the squad. We have some good young players. Roddy MacGregor, for example, if we can keep a hold of him before the window shuts.

“We also have Shane Sutherland and Manny Duku, who are real handfuls. And you can’t forget Billy Mckay has still to come back in from the bench.

“Our captain, Sean Welsh, is another not starting yet, so it shows we’ve got good competition for places and that is keeping everyone on their toes.”

Billy Dodds made it clear that he was keen for Kirk Broadfoot to join the ranks of Inverness Caley Thistle.