Inverness CT 1-1 Kilmarnock: Draw leaves Kenny Shiels frustrated

Scorers: Inverness CT - Shinnie (8); Kilmarnock - Pascali (45)

Shiels’ side were held to their second consecutive draw of the new Clydesdale Bank Premier League season against Caley Thistle in the sun-kissed Highland capital on Saturday afternoon.

Inverness took an early lead from Aaron Doran’s corner with Ross Draper heading across goal and Andrew Shinnie sliding in at the post to net in the eighth minute. However, their lead was cancelled out in first half stoppage time by a Manuel Pascali header. Even when Inverness went down to ten men – Owain Tudur Jones was sent-off for a headbutt on James Fowler 11 minutes from time – Kilmarnock were unable to make their numerical advantage count.

First-half substitute Danny Racchi also missed a penalty for the visitors, with goalkeeper Ryan Esson saving James Dayton’s rebound effort. Shiels was left to once more rue  Kilmarnock’s inability to pose a sustained threat in the final third.

Shiels says he is trying hard to remedy it, with Spanish attacking midfielder Borja a transfer target, while former  Killie forward Colin Nish, currently at Hartlepool, is another player he is interested in.

However with funds limited, Shiels has to seek an answer to this lack of cutting edge from within the group of players currently at his disposal.

He said: “When Inverness went down to ten men they were there for the taking, we just didn’t find a solution to break them down.

“The boys worked really hard, but I’m having to try and develop a way of playing within the team because just now we can’t buy a goalscorer.

“I’m looking at Borja, who plays at the top of the midfield, but I’m not optimistic on that one and it’s a similar case with Colin Nish.

“I’ve also tried to get the likes of Andy Kirk, Craig Beattie and Nigel Hasselbaink over the summer. I must have tried at least 20 strikers, but we’ve just came up short in terms of what we’ve been able to offer them.

“It’s been frustrating, but it’s all part of the job and we just have to get on with it.”

Meanwhile, Caley Thistle manager Terry Butcher feels plenty of positives can be taken from his side’s start to the campaign. Last week’s draw at St  Mirren was followed up by another point against Kilmarnock and the 53-year-old is happy with the efforts of his squad at Inverness so far.

He said: “At this stage last year, we didn’t have any points on the board.

“This time around, we have managed to get two points from two games and have played some really nice football as well.”

Indeed, Thistle now have a young and revitalised group of players who like to get the ball down and play and those who are predicting their SPL demise may well be wide of the mark.

“I think we’ve made good progress in the last 12 months, I’m very pleased with what we’ve got” explained a contented Butcher.