Rewind the clock back 15-years-ago, Queen of the South were completely written off as they took on Rangers in the Scottish Cup final. 

Walter Smith’s side were due to play in the showpiece event of the UEFA Cup. They were flying on all fronts.  

Queens were a division below and it was essentially thought the lower league minnows would be as well not showing up to Hampden for the final of the cup in 2008.  

The Ibrox club raced into a 2-0 lead at the national stadium. It appeared to be a procession.  

However, a stunning comeback from Queens, fronted by Stephen Dobbie, led to a Scottish Cup final to remember. The tie finished 3-2 to Rangers in the end and Queens more than gave them the fright of their lives before they eventually lifted the trophy. 

Dodds was part of Gordon Chisholm’s backroom staff at the time. And the Inverness manager insists he can lean on that experience ahead of Caley Thistle’s upcoming showdown against Celtic. 

“Queen of the South shouldn’t have bothered turning up against Rangers,” Dodds joked. “They were in the UEFA Cup Final at that point, so if we had that mindset then we would be thinking ‘we’re Queen of the South, we’re not going to beat them’. We could have won it! 

“We were 2-0 down, then got to 2-2, and Stephen Dobbie had a great chance to make it 3-2. So, when you have got a good group of boys, sometimes they will go on to bigger and better things, but that means you have a chance with where you are just now in the final. 

“I’m not saying we’re going to win, but I would maybe talk to the players about that because it is relevant. I don’t like talking about myself, but that’s not about me, that’s a collective thing. 

“I would mention it because it is relative, it’s Queen of the South, the underdog from the lower leagues against the UEFA Cup finalists. We’re not meant to beat them, but we got to within a whisker. 

“So, why not? That tells you everything you need to know. 

“I am hoping that intense pressure works against them. But listen, it’s the Old Firm and they’ve been in big games before. 

“As a former Old Firm player or a former Rangers player, you know the expectation of your club. You turn up there and you’ve got to win or you will get slaughtered. 

“I would like this group of players, whoever comes, to get to the stage that Queen of the South got Rangers to that year.” 

READ MORE: Clinical Caley storm into Scottish Cup Final

Dodds’ men were excellent on Saturday as they cruised into the final of this season’s cup finale with a 3-0 win over Falkirk.  

There was little between the teams in terms of general play, but when you’ve got Billy McKay up front, it’s a huge boost to Caley Thistle. He netted a deadly double, hitting a century for the club in the process, as a Daniel Mackay header settled matters in Glasgow.  

Mackay is on loan at the Highlanders from Hibs. He was a standout on the day for Inverness. Jay Henderson was also mightily impressive, with his wicked, whipped delivery right on the money for his teammate to head home past Brian Kinnear.  

Dodds admits he’d love to hold on to both players no matter what league Inverness plays in next season. But he insists motivating his loanees is no problem. 

Asked how he navigates the loan issue as a manager, he said: “Don’t sign any rascals! It’s hard, I had my eye on Jay Henderson last year and I couldn’t get him because St Mirren had a Covid outbreak and if you remember, all the young boys played against Celtic. 

“He did well and then scored the next week against Dundee United from about 30 yards, so I missed out on him, and it’s frustrating at times. But every manager will say that. 

“You’ve just got to keep digging away, speak to agents, my agent helps me out as well which is great. 

“There are a lot of targets, John Robertson is looking at a few, you are just constantly looking at players and then you can hope your choices work out. 

“I wouldn’t just sign anyone. If I had a half-decent player and he was a naughty one, I wouldn’t bring him into that dressing room. 

“You try to build your squad and you are hoping they do well, but not unbelievably well so that their club doesn’t just say ‘thank you very much, you’ve helped him along in his journey.’ 

“But they are two good players, and you can see why I wanted to bring them here because I love playing with wingers. 

“I needed wingers because I was slow. I was sharp, but I was slow, so if they weren’t crossing the ball to me then I wasn’t scoring goals. 

“I’d like to get them back next season, I’d like to do business, but sometimes you lose out. 

“Look at Logan Chalmers last year, we lost him and I was gutted, but Dundee United wanted him back. Reece McAleer, lost him too, so you just need to go again.” 

Caley’s progression to the final on June 3 means that their schedule became even more challenging. If they were to make it to the Premiership play-off final, as per their promotion aspirations, they could face up to seven games in just over three weeks.  

Dodds added: “I think they are going to have to put the season back, but that’s going to give us an issue as well as we’ll get less rest, which has been my problem for the start. 

“We’ve got one of the best sports scientists in Scotland, and I can understand why he’s got no hair because he was telling me ‘Gaffer, last year three weeks was not enough rest’. Then we picked up all those injuries. 

“It’s going to be even less this year if we reach the final, and that’s the problem. They are going to have to look at the fixtures. 

“I would rather have that problem, of course, because I’m winning and I’m in the final and hopefully getting to the playoffs at least. 

“We’re in a good place because even when we aren’t playing well in games, we’re digging in at the right times to get through that bad period.”