Inverness: Butcher will make players pay for loss

Published on Monday 13 April 2009 09:58

INVERNESS manager Terry Butcher has vowed to make his players pay for their below-par performance against Aberdeen.

Gary McDonald's header 11 minutes from time gave the Dons all three SPL points in a hard-fought encounter.

Butcher knows his players must improve ahead of next week's relegation battle with Hamilton at the Caledonian Stadium.

And he has warned them to expect a week of demanding training, to ensure they are ready for the Accies test.

"Some of our players played well but some of them didn't," Butcher said. "We need players who really, really want to be involved in the mix when it comes to the Hamilton match. More than one or two of the players didn't perform to the standards we know they can.

"A lot of people will say that coming to Aberdeen, who are fourth in the league, and losing 1-0 is just the way it goes, but it is not the way it goes in my book.

We are going through a sequence of losing one week and winning the next so put us down for a win next week against Hamilton.

"But we can't keep relying on having to bounce back all the time. We need to find consistency."

However, Butcher admitted his side did not play well enough at Pittodrie to deserve something from the match.

"It is disappointing because we pulled off a great comeback against St Mirren last week," he said.

"But fair play to Aberdeen, I'm sure they will say they deserved to win and I can't really argue with that. We just have to take our medicine and get on with it."

Aberdeen boss Jimmy Calderwood praised Charlie Mulgrew for another deadly set-piece that led to McDonald's winner.

Calderwood has now challenged the full-back to master his defensive duties in a bid to become a more complete player.

"He has a fabulous delivery but it is not all about that," Calderwood said. "You have to defend as well, and have that side of the game. But that is the easy side of the game, you can't learn what he has.

"Clubs all over the world are looking for a left-back with the kind of quality he has.

"All he has to do is master the easy side because he can already do the difficult stuff."

The win guaranteed Aberdeen a top-six finish for the fifth season in a row during Calderwood's reign at the club.