Passing game can give us upper hand in Highland derby - Doran

AARON Doran has every confidence that Caley Thistle’s passing game can give them the edge in the first Highland derby of the season on Friday night.

Ross County are once more seeking the comforts of home after Saturday’s loss to Kilmarnock ensured it was a fourth home defeat in five league matches on their travels this season.

However, rivals Caley Thistle make the short journey across the Kessock Bridge having been defeated in their last two matches, succumbing heavily to St Johnstone before going down in controversial circumstances against Partick Thistle on Sunday.

Doran knows that Inverness will face a County side, who they have not beaten in Dingwall since August 2004, in very good form at home after losing just one of their previous four games, but the winger believes they can gain the upper hand, if the Caley Jags can get their passing game going.

"I think they’ve been really strong since they came up last season," said the 22-year-old.

"We know what they are like at home. They just defend well and are a compact team.

"However, if we get our game together, we can pass them off the park to be honest, so hopefully we can do that.

"I like playing on a Friday night under the floodlights, so if we can do what we did last season when we beat them 3-1 that would be a great result for us.

"We know that we have to pick ourselves up from the result against Partick, look at the positives and negatives when we come back in on Tuesday, and then look to push on again.

"It will certainly give everyone a lift if we can get a good result.

"We’ve lost a few games recently, so if we can get a win at County on Friday then it would pick everyone up."

Doran was part of the Caley Thistle side that travelled to face County last season still in pole position to clinch Europe.

Andre Hainault’s goal, however, ensured Inverness fans would not be looking their passports out for the first time in the club’s short history.

The celebrations of the County fans both during the game as they cheered the St Johnstone goals that helped the Perth club beat Motherwell to seal that European spot at Caley Thistle’s expense, and afterwards is something that Doran can still recall.

He concedes that it was hard to take at the time, but is looking to Friday’s encounter to try and banish those memories.

"That was really hard on us in the final game of last season," he said. "We didn’t make Europe and then all of a sudden the season is over.

"There’s still a bit of disappointment about that, but after all that we were still happy with the season that we had.

"We’ve started this season really well and we’re still second in the league, so we’re doing better than we done last season.

"If we can go over to County and get a good result it would make for a good weekend.

"It did hurt (the loss in the final game of last season). You could hear all of the County fans cheering even before the final whistle, so you know that you’re not going to make it into Europe and that was really difficult.

"But this is a new season and we’re still doing really well, so we can go there and try and get back at those County fans for making the gestures they did towards us at the end of last season."

Doran was one of the main protagonists in the first goal that Caley Thistle had ruled out against Partick.

After Ross Draper thought he had taken a corner, Doran took control, eventually scoring with a low finish after his initial cross had seen Billy McKay’s effort blocked in front of goal.

But the celebrations were curtailed to the assistant referee raising his flag to indicate an infringement before referee Euan Norris disallowed the goal, much to Caley Thistle’s astonishment.

"I just ran across and Ross Draper said to me that he had taken it already and I’m sure the assistant referee has said to me that he had taken it already as well, and that I could play, so I did," he said.

"I think he’s put the flag up quite late, so I don’t really what’s happened or why he’s disallowed it.

"I think he said Ross Draper has touched the ball twice, but he didn’t say anything and then he’s put the flag up late.

"It’s hard to take because I felt we had done enough to even win the game, but I think it was always going to take a mistake from one of the two teams to get the win."

BILLY McKay made it back-to-back Scottish Premiership player of the month awards for Caley Thistle after he won the prize for September.

After club captain Richie Foran was named the winner of the August award, striker McKay landed the accolade for September — a month in which he scored three goals to help Inverness to victories over Kilmarnock and Hibernian.