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  • tm4tj
    tm4tj

    Inverness CT -V- St Johnstone - SPFL

      Teaser Paragraph:

    Oh No !


    Oh yes. Big news this week as a yes vote at the home of golf ensures that women will be allowed to join the once men only domain at St Andrews. It was a week where voting was all the rage. Despite the battle for Independence being lost, the war has been won by the people of Scotland who stood up for their country and ensured that changes will be made to the way that not only our country is being organised, but the whole of the United Kingdom.

    Meanwhile, football still goes on, and Inverness will be looking to get back on track after two defeats in a row, both away games in Glasgow, and both tricky ties in their own right for different reasons.

    Perth are the visitors this weekend and that should provide Inverness with the ideal opportunity to bounce back after the disappointment of Ibrox where a deflected strike by Lewis Macleod was the difference between the sides as Inverness offered too little too late in the League Cup.

    Our last Premiership game was at Partick, and we surrendered our unbeaten start to the campaign and with it our first goals after a great start to the season. One encouraging aspect was our ability to create chances, but the downside of that was our inability to take them with Billy McKay firing blanks once again although it's good to see Aaron Doran scoring freely.

    St Johnstone without Stevie May is like Yes without No, Marks without Spencer, Laurel without Hardy, Vodka without coke, mince without tatties; I rest my case. It's no coincidence that they have been somewhat erratic since the young striker departed for the English Championship club Sheffield Wednesday. May has scored twice for the Owls since signing in the summer.

    With May gone, Tommy Wright has acquired the services of Brian Graham on loan from Tayside rivals Dundee United. Graham has plenty of aerial presence and will be a useful addition to the Perth squad. Former St Mirren midfielder Simon Lappin has signed a two year deal after leaving Cardiff City where he never made a first team appearance.

    Three wins and three defeats for St Johnstone see them sit in seventh place with nine points having scored just four times in six games. Their three victories were impressive enough, away to Ross County and Motherwell and at home to Aberdeen. Their last match was a 0-1 home defeat to newly promoted Dundee.

    It is also worth noting that St Johnstone will be fined around £14.5k after a fan was reportedly waving a Palestinian flag at their recent UEFA Cup game against Spartak Trnava. That's a lot of dosh for provincial clubs to fork out for something outwith their control and maybe a lesson for all clubs and fans to ensure it is not repeated at other stadiums.


    Who's throwing a sickie this week
    Inverness will be able to recall captain Graeme Shinnie and powerful midfielder Ross Draper after both missed the cup game through suspension. Richie Foran will be out until around Xmas time and James Vincent is not fully fit. Draper was also carrying a knock after the Partick loss and will be assessed prior to the game.

    Tam Scobbie and Steve MacLean will be out long term, possibly three to six months, both players suffering serious knee injuries and requiring operations to repair the damage. Good luck with recovery for both players. In MacLean's absence, Tommy Wright is hoping youngster Adam Morgan can push into the first X1 while the gaffer tries to secure another striker to help out. The unfortunately named Scott Brown is out after twisting his ankle against Dundee last week. Murray Davidson has not been to the barbers yet so I doubt he is fit enough to start, although he did play and score for the u20's against Hamilton this week.

     

    Perth's Alan Mannus is confident St Johnstone can get something from this game

     

     

    tm4tj Prediction:- It's not been the best of weeks for various reasons. Losing our clean sheets, unbeaten record and tumbling out of the League Cup to a team from the Championship makes for grim reading. But wait, it's not as bad as it looks. We were always going to concede and lose at some stage, so that particular monkey is off the back. We could have had a different outcome at Partick but need to take our chances as they come along. The Rangers was always going to be a tough game and so it proved, but there was very little between the sides and in fact it took a wickedly deflected shot to beat Brill and send us tumbling out of the cup. So, here we are now awaiting the presence of Perth, a side we will be vying for a top-six place with come the end of the season one would have thought. Given their loss of personnel in the shape of marksman Stevie May and our continuity, then I will be looking for a decisive win over injury hit St Johnstone. Anything else will be a disappointment. I'm looking for at least a 2-0 home win.
     




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