Winger Luis Longstaff says Inverness Caledonian Thistle should be better at breaking down low blocks by this stage of the season.
The Caley Jags were frustrated by Queen of the South in Inverness last night, being held to a 1-1 draw that opens the door for Stenhousemuir to go top of League One this afternoon.
It was not for a lack of trying. Early in the game before a goal was scored, Caley Thistle created several good chances that they did not take.
After Ross Millen’s equaliser shorty after the second half kicked off though, Longstaff felt Queen of the South were happy to take a point back down to Dumfries and focus on making life difficult for ICT.
Luis Longstaff felt a frustratingly familiar feeling during ICT’s draw with Queen of the South. Picture: Callum Mackay
That is a familiar feeling for Inverness, particularly at the Sarens PSG Stadium, but part of Longstaff’s frustration is that they have not found a way to consistently overcome that challenge.
“At the end of the season, it might prove to be a good point, but it feels tough to take at the moment,” Longstaff said.
“We’ve had a lot of draws recently, which isn’t great, but we’re still trying to be positive. We have high standards for ourselves, and we look at draws like a defeat, especially at this stage of the season.
“We had lots of chances that we didn’t take, and they score with their first one. I would be more worried if we weren’t creating anything at all, but we need to take a few more of them to take the pressure off us a little bit.
“Queens are a good team to be fair, and they’ve got a threat going forward. We knew that, but when you create as many chances as we did and don’t take them, you almost start thinking ‘something’s coming here’.
“We did well to get back into it, and I thought after we scored we might kick on, but it fell a little flat. It felt like they were happy with a point in the end, even at 1-1 they were sitting back.
“That becomes more frustrating each time it happens, but we have to get better and playing against that. Probably 90 per cent of our games at home this season have been like that, and it’s a completely different story if we take two or three of those early chances.
“We’ve had enough experience playing against that over the course of the season. Sometimes we have taken the chances we have created, but today wasn’t one of those days unfortunately.”
Although they could cede the advantage in the League One title race this afternoon, Caley Thistle’s destiny remains in their own hands as they travel to Stenny in two weeks’ time.
Before then, though, Inverness have another shot at silverware as they take on Raith Rovers in the KDM Evolution Trophy final.
ICT will be seen as the underdogs against Championship opposition, but after already knocking out two second-tier sides on the journey to Firhill Longstaff does not see it as a free hit – and he believes the outcome of the final could have a knock-on impact on the Caley Jags’ title bid.
“It’s a good achievement getting to a cup final – we can’t forget that,” Longstaff added.
“It’s not too many times in your career you get to play in a cup final, so I think we’ve got to enjoy that next week and try to win the game. You never know, that could give us a spark again for the last five league games of the season.
“I still think there will be expectation, but I think you’ve seen that when we play against Championship teams this season, we have generally performed well.
“I would hope it will be more of an open game, and it will be a good occasion if we can win that.
“If we can win some silverware before the run-in, it will give us confidence, so we have to look forward to it. Then whatever happens on Sunday, we’ll have to put it to the back of our minds after that, because we’re still in a decent position in the league.”
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