“One Glasgow team beaten, two to go”

A tough away fixture this week as Inverness take on Partick Thistle at Firhill, a ground that we are not overly familiar with being victorious at, with only two wins in ten attempts.

Inverness received a boost prior to heading south with the news that the club scooped all three awards from the Scottish Premiership for the month of August. John Hughes, Ross Draper and Ryan Christie picked up the gongs as Manager, player and young player of the month. Fantastic recognition for Yogi's new style of play and just reward for the players carrying out their orders and executing it to perfection so far.

RossP has been studying form for this game and his preview is ready for your viewing....................

Partick Thistle v. Inverness Caledonian Thistle
 
Saturday’s match v. Partick Thistle is the first of two trips to Glasgow in quick succession, with the League Cup game v. Rangers taking place three days after. Our trips south this season have been profitable thus far, following wins against Motherwell and Hamilton. John Hughes will look to continue this good form after the unwelcome interruption of the international break, unlike the previous season when we returned to club football with a 2-1 defeat at home to Partick.
 
Previous meetings/Current form
Partick and Inverness have played each other 24 times competitively and have shared the spoils evenly, with both teams earning 8 wins and drawing 6 times. Such is the close competition between the teams, which the last 8 games have not seen either side win by more than one goal. With this in mind it is essential that Inverness continue their flawless defensive record, where Dean Brill has gone 598 minutes without conceding in the SPFL; a record only bettered by Celtic’s former goal keeper Fraser Forster.
 
The last game between the sides saw Inverness earn a 1-0 home win with Billy Mckay getting the only goal. What jumped out when I looked back at the team that day is that every player in the match day squad has been retained this season, further highlighting our efforts in ensuring personnel continuity.
 
On the topic of continuity… Partick Thistle got their season off to a flier with a comprehensive 4-0 win v a Ross County side that featured more than half a dozen players making their debut. After having to wait until February for a home win last season, Alan Archibald will have been delighted to come up against such a poor team as County that early in this campaign. Partick’s form has dropped somewhat since that emphatic win however, with only a point being earned from their next three games v. Dundee, Hamilton and Aberdeen.
 
 
Dangermen
Kallum Higginbotham – A diminutive winger, who scored an impressive 9 goals last season and topped the assist table with 11 goals created. He is a skilful player, who drives at opposition full backs and looks to cut inside to get a shot at goal. Higginbotham’s goals tend to be long range efforts, so expect him to strike the ball early whenever he gets a sight at goal. Referees have also taken note of his tendency to anticipate challenges, as demonstrated by his yellow card for diving earlier this season.
 
Ryan Stevenson – Striker/midfielder, recently joined from relegated Hearts. Stevenson will likely be fired up for this game following a humiliating semi-final defeat to Inverness, where he is remembered for high-fiving Hearts fans as he went to take a corner, seconds before Nick Ross scored our dramatic equaliser. Like Higginbotham, he is capable of scoring spectacular goals.
 
Gary Fraser – A player who has excelled this season, where he’s provided steel in the middle of the pitch, in addition to a goal threat. His excellent start to the campaign has somewhat buried his negative early days at Partick where he was given a lengthy ban for "punching a player on the opposing team" and "thereafter kicking him repeatedly on the head and body" in an under 20 game. I don’t think he would be stupid enough to try a similar approach to Ross Draper…
 
Latest Team News
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
ICT should have a near fully fit squad to choose from, with only Richie Foran still missing. Warren, Devine and Vincent have all missed some games this season but all are back in training and looking to get back into the first eleven. Billy Mckay returns in high spirits from his match winning contribution in Hungary for the Northern Ireland national team, whilst Ryan Christie may require some rest after his travels to Slovakia and Luxembourg this week with the Scotland Under 21 squad.
 
Partick Thistle
It should be a full strength squad for Partick, who will want to get their season back on track as soon as possible. They have added to their team with the signing of Nathan Eccleston prior to today’s game; a striker who has spent much of his career on loan to various lower league teams from Liverpool and Blackpool. His scoring record of 5 goals from 60 career games in the English Leagues won’t be giving Dean Brill too many nightmares, should he start. Goalkeeper Scott Fox also returns from suspension following his absurd red card v. Dundee, and Archibald may be tempted to restore him between the sticks following their recent SPFL defeats. Whoever Archibald picks in goals, Partick fans will be concerned about their defenders in front, with Balatoni and Muirhead delivering unconvincing performances so far and some indecision on who their strongest fullbacks are. Latest news coming from Firhill has Gary Fraser out for a possible three months with a knee stress fracture, and he is not alone as Sean Welsh misses out as well.  


RossP Prediction:-
I don’t see there being too many goals in this game and with the recent matches between the sides keeping them at most 1 goal apart, I would anticipate a similar outcome in Saturday’s game. Straight from the football cliché looker – the first goal is vital. If Inverness open the scoring, most bookies would provide extremely high odds for us then coming away without any points. However, I worry that the international break has broken our momentum somewhat and would not be surprised if the match finished a draw. My heart says 1-0 ICT win, but my head (and bookies slip) will say 1-1. I hope that Hughes gives Ryan Christie a rest for this game, to recover from what has been a physically draining start to the season for the young star. In his place I would like to see Nick Ross make a start as he will do the necessary closing down of opposition players and still be able to provide the creative passes that Christie has given the team since he burst into the side. Ross would also go into the team in good form, having scored against Aberdeen in a recent Development League match.
 
                                 How I think John Hughes will line up:                                                       How I would line up: