Caley Thistle’s Calum MacLeod says in-form side can improve further, while Cove Rangers’ Declan Glass tips tide to turn in their favour

Caley Thistle match-winner Calum MacLeod believes the League One’s form team can get even better.

The Inverness academy graduate netted the only goal in Saturday’s hard-fought contest at Cove Rangers to move the team into second place, just one point below new leaders Stenhousemuir.

Only the five-point deduction due to being in administration last year has kept ICT, the title favourites, off top spot.

Five victories from six matches has seen Scott Kellacher’s team surge past all but one club – Stenny – who won 2-1 at the Sarens PSG Stadium last month.

Inverness have also kept five clean sheets, with Kellacher winning August’s League One manager of the month prize, and goalkeeper Ross Munro earning the player’s award for the division.

‘We can get better by scoring more’

The Caley Jags have edged to 1-0 wins against Alloa Athletic and now Cove to keep their powerful run going and MacLeod feels there are is scope to kill teams off sooner.

He said: “Cove is always a tough place to come. We struggled to get through their low block in the first half.

“I thought we dominated more in the second half and reaped the rewards for that.

“Sometimes, you score a few goals, like we did on the first day of the season when we won 3-0 at Kelty.

“Times like this, it can be hard and it can become a bit nervy, but we came through it. There have been a couple of times this season when we’ve had to dig in for a result.

“We’ve now won five of our six games and had five clean sheets. If we can continue to show that kind of form, we will be fine.

“I think we can get better by scoring more goals.

“In our last two league games, we have won 1-0, so I’m sure we can improve. We can try to score earlier in game, get more comfortable, and help ourselves out.”

Winner at Cove is MacLeod’s best yet

MacLeod’s clinching goal, his third this season, which arrived midway through the second half, came at the end of a slick built-up and lay-off from David Wotherspoon.

He said: “That felt better than my other goals so far. Even with the deflection, it was a good strike.

“I knew the ball was coming to me, so it was just a case of trying to put the ball in the back of the net.

“I’m very happy and the more goals I can score for the team, the better.”

Impressing in right-back position

MacLeod, who is a midfielder, was asked to fill in at right-back to cover for injured summer signing, Ross Millen, and he’s impressed Kellacher with many big performances, as well as his goals.

The 19-year-old insist with the experienced ex-Raith Rovers and Morecambe player fit and ready, he can’t let his high standards dip.

He added: “With every game, I am feeling more and more comfortable.

“After the first game, it took a bit of getting used to it, but I am getting better each game.

“Ross Millen is a very good player, so I know I need to be on my game every time to keep my place.”

Glass believes Cove will blast back

Midfielder Declan Glass, meanwhile, is confident Cove Rangers will come through a testing spell to start climbing the League One table.

The Aberdeen side, ravaged by injuries all season, are the only winless team in the division, sitting bottom on two points after the 1-0 loss to Inverness.

The 25-year-old had to come off with an injury just 17 minutes into the game, having replaced Blair Yule in the starting side after he missed out through illness.

Calum MacLeod’s deflected strike sunk hard-working Cove and boss Paul Hartley is looking to add some attacking options to his ranks to boost numbers and quality this week.

Last term, Cove picked up just four points from their first five league games, but roared back to finish as runners-up.

They only missed out on promotion back to the Championship by losing the play-off final 2-1 against Airdrieonians.

Glass said: “You can always tell when a team is struggling, but I don’t think we have that feel about us.

“It’s just down to a bit of luck at times. In games, we’re just coming out on the wrong end of it.

“There’s still plenty of belief in there. There are no heads down.

“We had a bit of a slow start last season and look how we finished.

“We’ve a few players missing and if we had the luxury of a full squad like most other teams in the league, I have to say, I think it would be a different story.

“I have missed a lot of games through injury, which is frustrating, and we have a lot of experienced and important players missing.

“When you look at the players missing, it is those who probably played the highest percentage of the games last season, so it has been difficult, but we’ll still take heart from how we played on Saturday and we move on to Saturday’s game at Alloa.”

‘The lads were very good. We put a lot into the game, it was a big effort’

The former Dundee United player, who won the League Two title when on loan at Cove in 2019-20, felt they were a whisker away from taking a point from an ICT side looking the best bet for the title, even at this early stage.

He added: “The lads were very good. We put a lot into the game, it was a big effort, and ultimately we fell just short.

“The game plan was executed almost to perfection. We got a bit of misfortunate by losing through a deflected strike, albeit after a good bit of play. That sums up how we’ve been at the minute.

“We have been unfortunate, but we will pick ourselves up. We can take heart from our performance against one of the best footballing teams in the league.

“Credit to Inverness, but it was a sore one for us.”

[Source: Press and Journal]