Inverness Caledonian Thistle will have won more games away than at home in the league for their third consecutive season - Highland News and Media sport editor Will Clark takes a look at the stats
IT is all getting a bit nervy again for Inverness Caledonian Thistle as they look to avoid the relegation play-off in League One. After moving out of the relegation zone on March 8 with a 1-0 win at Dumbarton and then moving to seventh after beating Stenhousemuir 4-1 three days later, there was talk of Inverness possibly challenging for a Championship play-off spot.
However, only one win in their last six matches has resulted in Inverness still battling to avoid the relegation play-off with two games remaining in the regular season.
Annan Athletic are still within a shout of leapfrogging Inverness Caledonian Thistle after thrashing an understrength Arbroath, who appeared to have laid down tools after winning League One, with a 5-1 win at Galabank. They are now one point behind Inverness and face bottom of the table Dumbarton on Saturday.
Inverness will be hoping to play their final home match of the season on Saturday as they take on champions Arbroath at the Caledonian Stadium with their final regular season match away to Montrose on Saturday, May 3.
Manager Scott Kellacher will be hoping Arbroath will be in a similar lethargic mood to what they were at Annan last week to increase their chances of victory.
But the Caledonian Stadium has not proven to be as lucrative for victories to Inverness as it has been on the road. Out of Caley Thistle’s 14 wins this season, only six have been at home with eight being away.
In their 10 defeats this season, only four have been at home with six away, but having home advantage has not been beneficial as many feel it should have been.
It is not just this season where Inverness have failed to capitalise on teams traveling to the Highland capital. Last season, Inverness won 10 matches during the regular season in the Championship. But only four of those victories were at home with six wins on the road. They finished the season in ninth place and lost the Championship play-off final to Hamilton Academical as they were relegated to League One.
The year before that in the 2022-23 season, Inverness won 15 matches in the Championship. But only six of those wins were at home compared to nine away. The last time they won more matches home than away was in the 2021-22 campaign winning 10 of their 16 matches at home in the Championship.
While Caley Thistle’s defence has been reasonably sound in the last two seasons, scoring goals has been their problem. Last season, Inverness were relegated with a positive goal difference of one goal, but scored the second least amount of goals in the division with 41.
A 15-point deduction due to going into administration does not give a true reflection of how the team has performed this season.
But they would have still have looked to have fared better at home in a league where the majority of teams are part-time. Defeats at home to Annan Athletic and Kelty Hearts will have been games they would have targeted victories.
Whether Inverness perform better against more attacking teams compared to sides who like to sit in and score on the counter attack may account for their results.
But Inverness will feel disappointed they have not delivered at home where the stadium pulls in the best crowds in the division by a mile.
However, to still be outside the relegation zone with a 15 point deduction is something which is a remarkable achievement and one the club would have taken after going into administration in October.
Let’s just hope Saturday is the final home game of the season and they don’t have to go through a play-off scenario again to avoid relegation to League Two.
