Caley Jags: Wilson’ s Highland derby warning as Fifers head north

Caley Thistle cannot afford to lose touch with Ross County at the top of the Championship, according to Barry Wilson.

The first-team coach stressed the importance of keeping in close proximity to the flying Staggies, who are seven points above the Caley Jags.

Five draws in succession, in which they have scored just twice, have dropped Inverness to fifth, with Dunfermline visiting the Caledonian Stadium tonight.

John Robertson’s Inverness are on a 22-game unbeaten run. But they can ill-afford to concede any further ground to their neighbours ahead of the second Highland derby of the season this Saturday at the Caledonian Stadium.

Wilson said: “It’s important we don’t lose touch at the top of the table. Ross County are seven points ahead of us just now.

“With the derby on Saturday it’s important we keep ourselves in touch ahead of that one.

“It’s the most important thing – we need to get that result and that should give us added confidence heading into Saturday’s derby match.

“It’s a huge game and we knew it was going to be a big three games for us.

“It’s imperative we get the win. It’s a good couple of games to look forward to. Dunfermline are on the back of a poor result on Saturday and maybe are shy on confidence, so it’s a good chance to get back on the winning road. But it’s not going to be easy. We did a number on them down there earlier in the season and we’d take the same performance as that.”

The Caley Jags welcome back Coll Donaldson from suspension and George Oakley from a hamstring injury, however skipper Carl Tremarco (thigh) is a major doubt after coming off in the 0-0 draw with Alloa on Saturday.

Of Inverness’ current run, 10 out of the 22 games unbeaten have been drawn, with seven of those coming in the first 10 games of the 2018-19 campaign. They have the second-best defensive record in the league behind County, but their 11 goals scored comes sig- nificantly behind the four teams above them in the table.

Wilson added: “It’s a good habit that we’re not losing games but we need to start turning them into wins. Saturday’s 0-0 at Alloa was probably a good draw considering the way we played.

“We really need to be winning these types of games if we’re going to be up there challenging.”