Inverness Caley Thistle head coach Scott Kellacher in ‘the better side lost’ declaration after defeat to League One relegation rivals Annan Athletic
Scott Kellacher believes Inverness Caledonian Thistle matched the performance level of their 4-1 win over Stenhousemuir against Annan Athletic – only without the goals to show for it.
The Caley Jags were beaten 1-0 by their rivals at the bottom end of the League One table, with Paul Smith’s third minute goal proving to be all that separated the teams on the scoreboard.
It was certainly not for a lack of trying though. At various times, ICT hit the post, had a goal disallowed and saw one effort cleared off the line as they dominated proceedings at the Caledonian Stadium.
Head coach Kellacher, then, refused to be too critical of his players for the effort they put in, insisting that he would have taken the position Inverness are currently in had he been offered it a few months ago.
“It was just one of those days, I don’t know what else to say,” he said.
“It’s frustrating, but I don’t think we can ask for any more out of the boys, we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net.
“We’ve let ourselves down in both boxes, and that’s the really frustrating part because we dominated the game.
“As soon as they got their goal, we knew what the agenda was, and that’s football sometimes. We have to learn from it.
“After Tuesday we were on a massive high after a great performance, but I thought this performance was just as good – we just didn’t have the goals to show for it.
“They held on for dear life, and they held on for 94 minutes. We had 17 shots at goal, so we can’t get too down. On Tuesday, we took all of our chances and today we didn’t take any. That’s the frustrating part.
“I’m not the type of guy who is going to go in there and crack up on the boys. They have given absolutely everything, and they have got us to the position we’re in.
“Would I have taken being two points above Annan at this point of the season? Given what we were up against, no question.
“Jose Mourinho said during the week that the better team on the night lost, and for me the better team on the day lost between us and Annan. We have to take that on the chin and move on.”
Caley Thistle’s profligacy in front of goal was perhaps highlighted by the absence of Alfie Bavidge with a hamstring injury.
The on-loan Aberdeen teenager has hit the ground running in the Highland capital, scoring six goals in his 10 appearances for ICT to date.
Kellacher hopes to have more clarity on Bavidge’s prognosis at the start of the week, adding: “He has gone for a scan, so the physio will be assessing him on Monday and we’ll hopefully find out what the timescale is going to be.
“Alfie says he’s not feeling too bad, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
“We’re starting to pick up injuries now, which is going to be hard going. A lot of the boys are playing through wee knocks, so we’re asking them to keep going every week and keep playing 90 minutes.
“You’ve got to be concerned, and you’re just hoping that we can manage it and get boys through to be in the best possible condition for Saturdays.
“We’re wrapping one or two of them up in cotton wool to make sure they can get through, so it’s going to play a part but that’s the case for every team. We won’t be using that as an excuse.”