Inverness Caley Thistle need to believe in their own ability more, says head coach Scott Kellacher after missing chances to beat Alloa Athletic
Scott Kellacher was once again happy with the number of chances Inverness Caledonian Thistle created – even if they could only draw with Alloa Athletic.
An Alfie Stewart goal in the first half put the Caley Jags in front, and he could have had a second when he hit the post early in the second.
Alloa would hit back through a Scott Taggart header, but Inverness continued to push and earned a penalty when Keith Bray was taken down.
Billy Mckay stepped up to take it, only to see his effort saved by a strong hand from Peter Morrison, who recovered brilliantly to smother Mckay’s attempted follow up.
Bray would then hit the bar, but things threatened to turn when Remi Savage was shown a second yellow card.
With the tide turning, Cameron O’Donnell hit the bar himself, before forcing a good save out of Celtic loanee Aidan Rice. Conor Sammon would then turn into the net from a yard out, but the offside flag went up to ensure the game finished level.
“I understand why the fans might be frustrated, but these boys need the fans to keep getting behind them because they don't need to be put under pressure,” Kellacher said.
"You can clearly see we were the better team today. It was similar to last week when we had chances and this time we got ourselves in front.
"We need to take those chances. The pleasing thing about it is we are creating, because if we weren't, that would be a real worry.
“We’ll just keep going. It won’t be easy, and I’ve said that from the start because I know what all these other teams are giving. When we’re on top, we really need to capitalise on it.”
Given the last few minutes could easily have seen Caley Thistle come away from the match empty-handed, it could be seen as a good point, but for Kellacher it was still very much a missed opportunity.
Rather than putting ICT’s wastefulness down to tactical or technical deficiencies, the head coach thinks it is a mentality issue – with the players more than good enough to score more on a regular basis in his mind.
“Looking at the whole game, we should have been out of sight, and that’s the frustrating part,” Kellacher added.
“You leave yourself open to a draw when you don’t take your chances, so I’m frustrated.
“The boys need to have more belief in themselves. They’re a good bunch of boys and players, and they give it everything they’ve got, but they just need to have that wee extra they showed against Stenhousemuir,
“They were ruthless and determined to get that next goal, and that’s so important. If you’re only one goal up, there’s always a chance for the other team, and Alloa took it.”