Third time lucky

Could it be third time lucky for Inverness as we head towards our third Scottish Cup semi-final against hot favourites Celtic, a club that has reached that stage of the competition fifty-four times and won the cup on 36 occasions. Our last two semi's ended in defeat to Dundee and Dunfermline (after a replay at Pittodrie).

The competition has opened up this season and one Championship side will be in the final as Falkirk play Hibs in the other tie.

Inverness' progress to the semi has been steady if unspectacular. We entered the competition at the 4th Round and drew 1-1 away to St Mirren. In the replay we trounced them 4-0 at home. Celtic hammerd Hearts 0-4 at Tynecastle to book their place in the next round. Another away tie in Glasgow saw us beat bogey side Partick Thistle 1-2 whilst Celtic disposed of Dundee in the City of Discovery by 0-2. In the quarter finals, we struggled past the Rangers conquerors Raith Rovers when a late Danny Devine header put us through, the first attempt to play the game ended in misery when the heavens opened and caused a late postponement to the scheduled tie on the Saturday. Celtic were paired with Dundee United and that sparked a series of ugly clashes between the sides with red cards galore coming over the next couple of weeks. A 1-1 draw at Tannadice was followed by a 4-0 drubbing at Parkhead, and all this amidst playing two league encounters. The sides were sick of the sight of each other but it was Celtic that prevailed in these games.

And that brings us up to date as we got the short straw when the balls came out of the hat, Inverness V Celtic and Falkirk V Hibernian.

Last weekend we served notice to Celtic that they will have a fight on their hands to reach their 55th final. Not a dirty game but referee Craig Thomson saw fit to dish out seven yellow cards as the sides drew 1-1 in the Highlands. Inverness have now gone four games without a win since beating Raith Rovers a month ago. Not counting that cup game, it would be eight games without a win, not great statistic leading up to this game for Inverness it has to be said. Celtic's stats are somewhat better. Only St Johnstone and Inter Milan have beaten the Hoops in their last 21 games, where 15 of those ended in wins for Celtic. Wow, imagine Inter Milan being mentioned in the same sentence as St Johnstone; the mind boggles!

However, it's not statistics that win football matches, it's what happens on the park. Remember February 8th 2000?

Have a look on the official Caley Thistle Facebook page and you can listen to some audio interviews from the players in the run up to the semi-final. https://www.facebook.com/ICTFC?fref=ts

Celtic warmed up for the cup game by thrashing Kilmarnock 4-1 on Wednesday night. Killie had taken the lead against the run of play but Celtic stormed back and a Leigh Griffiths hat-trick was the highlight. He may be a player of great ridicule, but his scoring prowess is very impressive. Leigh also scored Celtic's goal in the recent draw at Inverness and it would be advisable to keep a tight rein on him. The Hoops came through this game unscathed, although they had the luxury of resting a couple of players with Gary Mackay-Stevens and Stuart Armstrong playing. They are inelligible for the cup game as they were cup-tied with Dundee United.

Another hat-trick that's possible to achieve this Sunday would be the third time we have knocked Celtic out of the cup. It's certainly difficult, but it's not impossible. Our near neighbours and good friends did it a few seasons back when they went to Hampden and beat Celtic 2-0 to reach their first ever Scottish Cup final, a milestone that we hope will be attained on Sunday.

Dean Brill will be pulling a sickie after that horrific knee injury that will see him out for months. He was due to have a knee operation in London on Thursday and all Inverness fans will wish him a speedy recovery. Maybe Richie Foran will be back before him, but I'm no holding my breath on that. Other than that it's a full squad for Yogi with Ryan Esson taking over once more at No 1. Young Cammy Mackay will be the reserve keeper and that will be a tremendous occasion for him.

Celtic have Charlie Mulgrew nearing fitness but will be without the duo of cup-tied Arabs, Thurso's Gary Mackay-Steven and Invernesian Stuart Armstrong. Anthony Stokes is suspended after his red card in one of the United battles. Mikael Lustig is also out. It's immaterial really as Celtic have the luxury of calling on some quality players throughout their multi million pound squad.

tm4tj prediction:- Oh dear, I was hoping you would not ask. I'm glad I got it wrong last weekend as Inverness dug deep and kept Celtic quiet for most of the match although the Glasgow giants probably held the upper hand. A good fighting spirit amongst the Highland squad saw them go toe to toe with Celtic in a fairly scrappy match, mainly attributed to the blustery conditions and the bobbly pitch. I would like to think Hampden will be in better nick and that would suit us as we could get back to our possession game which would unsettle Celtic. It's a big ask though and with Leigh Griffiths scoring for fun it wont be easy. Kris Commons is another striker on fire just now, let's hope he burns out before Sunday. I wonder if Yogi will set out his stall looking to contain and hit on the break. That could go ti pear shaped if the hoops score early, although we did get back on level terms pretty rapidly last week. However, it's not often Celtic falter two games in a row. Edward Ofere will be a big player for us on Sunday, but he will need some assistance. Marley has pace to burn and if he is switched on, he will be a threat to Celtic. Ryan Esson will be in goal after Dean's injury but I have no worries over that. It's a big game for our younger stars like Ryan Christie. I hope the game will not pass him by as he has so much to offer, and Aaron Doran could be a match winner if he gets on the park.

My heart says Inverness, my head says Celtic, but I will go with my heart, although it might take extra time and penalties to do it.