Dundee Utd V ICT - Preview

Caley Thistle have lost only once in the last 9 meetings with Dundee United but make no mistake about it, a tough battle will ensue as the 'Arabs' are harder to beat with Craig Levein at the helm than they were under the recent procession of other managers. Andrew Fraser previews this weekends match at Tannadice.

Dundee Utd v Inverness CT Tannadice, Dundee Saturday 28th April SPL Referee: Steve Conroy Others: Jim Lyon, Willie Dishington (Assistants), Craig Charleston (4th official).

Tickets: This match is a pay at the gate. TV-info: LIVE commentary on BBC Radio Scotland. FIXTURES Saturday 28th April: Aberdeen v Kilmarnock Dundee Utd v Inverness CT Hibernian v Rangers Motherwell v Falkirk Sunday 29th April: Celtic v Hearts (Setanta, 2pm) Monday 30th April: St Mirren v Dunfermline (Setanta, 7:45pm) SPL RESULTS Saturday 21st April: (Anderson, Foster) Aberdeen 2-2 Hibernian (Gray, Shiels) (McManus) Dunfermline 1-0 Dundee Utd (Dargo 2) Inverness CT 2-0 Motherwell (Rae, Ferguson) Rangers 2-1 Hearts (Velicka) Sunday 22nd April: (Nish) Kilmarnock 1-2 Celtic (Hesselink, Nakamura) Monday 23rd April: Falkirk 0-2 St Mirren (Kean, Brady) RECENT SPL FORM (most recent games first) Inverness CT: WDDLLW Dundee Utd: LWDWDL PAST MEETINGS The teams have played a total of 15 times (11 League, 4 Cup) with 34 goals (18 Inverness CT, 16 Dundee Utd) between them. Inverness CT: 5 wins (3 League, 2 Cup) Draws: 6 (5 League, 1 Cup) Dundee Utd: 4 wins (3 League, 1 Cup) A GAME TO REMEMBER For this weeks game to remember we take you back to Inverness CT’s first ever victory over Dundee Utd. In their previous 7 attempts Inverness had failed to beat the Terrors but the midweek CIS Cup match gave them another chance to break the duck. Only 2 minutes had gone when Liam Fox put Inverness CT into an early lead. And with 4 minutes left of the first half, Barry Wilson capitalised on a keeper error to slam the ball home making it 2-0 and very difficult for United to come back. If I remember correctly Barry Robson hit the woodwork 3 times during the match!! The 2nd half didn’t bring any goals giving Caley Thistle their first victory over Dundee United in history. Inverness CT eventually lost in the next round away to Livingston. The attendance was 1919. The teams were as follows: INVERNESS CT: Brown, Duncan, Dods, Munro, Morgan, Proctor, Hart, Fox, Wilson, Wyness, McAllister. Subs- Black (for McAllister), Fraser, Parratt, Finnigan, Brewster. DUNDEE UTD: Stillie, McCracken, Ritchie, Archibald, Wilson, Canero, Brebner, Duff, Robson, Miller, Fernandez. Subs- Samuel (for Duff), McIntyre (for Miller), McInnes (for Canero), Kenneth, McLean. The referee was John Underhill and there was only 1 booking on the day: Miller of Dundee Utd. Eight of the Inverness players (including Morgan) who started the match still play for the club! FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS • All League meetings between the teams have taken place in the SPL. • Inverness CT have only lost one of the last 9 meetings in this fixture, however it took place this season in December when Dundee Utd won 3-1. • Dundee Utd never lost any of the first 7 meetings between the teams. • The biggest win was by 2 goals, both teams have won by this margin. • Inverness CT forward Gary McSwegan played for Dundee Utd. • The fixture produces an average of 2.3 goals per game. JUST 4 GAMES LEFT, WHERE CAN TEAMS FINISH? There are just 4 games left to see who will gain the last European places, who will finish best of the rest in the bottom six and who will survive the dreaded drop. This weekend has a few interesting fixtures, including the last day of the 1st division season to see who will come into the SPL next season. Will Gretna make it 3 back to back promotions or will St Johnstone make a remarkable come back and sneak it on the last day? Celtic will be presented with the SPL title on Sunday, in front of a full capacity crowd at Parkhead. Finally Celtic sealed the title last weekend, thanks to ANOTHER late goal, this time by Nakamura. Hearts fans are the ones that get to witness it. We, Inverness CT, are away to Dundee Utd looking to continue a recent impressive record against the Tangerines. Having lost only once in the last 9 meetings between the sides, Inverness definitely like to play Utd. However all eyes will of course be on Dods who has signed a pre-contract agreement with the Dundee side but I am very confident he will give 100% commitment to Inverness on Saturday. However, most of the drama will take place on Monday night in Paisley. St Mirren are 4pts ahead of Dunfermline and a win over the Pars will surely keep the Saints safe, but it is not as easy as that. Dunfermline are on form at the moment. They have won 3 out of their last 4 SPL games and are just finding the points at the right time; however only a win I believe will keep the Pars with any chance of survival. If you have Setanta I would advise you watch this game, could be a nervous one for both teams. One more interest might be the 1st division coming to a climax this weekend, and what a climax it might be. With the trophy set to be in a helicopter during the two games (just as it was when Inverness won it 3 years ago! Yes 3 whole years ago!!!!!) it is sure to swing between Highlands and Hamilton. Gretna go to our relegation threatened neighbours Ross County knowing that a win will seal it for them no matter what St Johnstone do. However if Gretna do not beat Ross County, the door is open for St Johnstone to beat Hamilton and claim an unexpected promotion this year, back to the top flight. There is sure to be some excitement on Saturday. Squad: Ally Ridgers, Jonathon Smith, Michael Fraser, Jamie Duff, Darren Dods, Stuart Soane, Guy Kerr, Richard Hastings, Stuart McCaffrey, Grant Munro, John Rankin, Ian Black, Roy McBain, Zander Sutherland, Alan Morgan, Richie Hart, Russell Duncan, Markus Paatelainen, Craig Dargo, Gary McSwegan, Rory McAllister, Garry Wood, Dennis Wyness, Graham Bayne Injured: Nobody. Suspended: Barry Wilson Ross Tokely

History

H / A / N	Matches	W	D	L	Goals	+ / -
H	6	4	2	0	6 - 1	+5
A	3	1	1	1	6 - 6	+0
N	0	0	0	0	0 - 0	+0
Total	9	5	3	1	12 - 7	+5

Date&time	Comp.	H / A / N	Final score
03.03.2007 at 15:00	League	H	1 - 0
03.02.2007 at 15:00	Scottish Cup	H	1 - 0
09.12.2006 at 15:00	League	A	1 - 3
16.09.2006 at 15:00	League	H	0 - 0
22.04.2006 at 15:00	League	H	1 - 0
18.02.2006 at 15:00	League	A	4 - 2
26.11.2005 at 15:00	League	H	1 - 1
20.09.2005 at 19:45	League Cup	H	2 - 0
28.08.2005 at 15:00	League	A	1 - 1