Hearts V ICT - Preview

Barry will become the third ICT player to chalk up 300 appearances for the club. A remarkable achievement in this day and age where loyalty and length of service seem to be a thing of the past. Andrew Fraser provides the match preview for this game.

Hearts v Inverness CT Tynecastle Stadium, Edinburgh Saturday 10th February at 2pm Referee: Eddie Smith Others: Charlie Smith, Lawrence Kerrigan (Assistants), Stephen Finnie (4th official)

Tickets: This match is an all-ticket affair. Tickets must be purchased from ICT. TV-info: LIVE commentary on BBC Radio Scotland (UK listeners only ) FIXTURES Saturday 10th February: Aberdeen v Dunfermline Celtic v Hibernian Falkirk v Motherwell Hearts v Inverness CT (2pm) St Mirren v Dundee Utd Sunday 11th February: Kilmarnock v Rangers (Setanta, 2pm) SCOTTISH CUP 4th ROUND RESULTS Saturday 3rd February: Deveronvale 0-1 (Gibson) Partick Dunfermline (Wilson) 1-0 Hearts Falkirk 0-3 (Hardie, James, McDonald) St Johnstone Hibernian (Jones, Sleming o.g, Benjelloun) 3-1 Gretna (Berkeley) Inverness CT (Duncan) 1-0 Dundee Utd Motherwell (Kerr, McDonald) 2-0 Morton Queen of the South (Dobbie, Adams) 2-0 Cowdenbeath Sunday 4th February: Livingston (Mackay) 1-4 (O’Dea, Riordan 2, Hesselink) Quarter Final Draw: Inverness CT v Celtic (Sun 25th Feb, 12:30pm) Queen of the South v Hibernian (Sat 24th Feb) Motherwell v St Johnstone (Wed 28th Feb, 8.05pm) Dunfermline v Partick (Sat 24th Feb) PAST MEETINGS The teams have played a total of 9 times (8 League, 1 Cup) with 15 goals (7 Inverness CT, 8 Hearts) between them. Inverness CT: 2 wins (1 League, 1 Cup) Draws: 4 (4 League, 0 Cup) Hearts: 3 wins (3 League, 0 Cup) A GAME TO REMEMBER For this weeks game to remember we take you back another one of Inverness’s great cup killing shocks. On the 26th January 2001 in the Scottish Cup 4th round, Inverness CT were drawn away to Hearts. Nobody predicted a shock, but Inverness weren’t listening. A tremendous display from the in-form 1st Division side gave the Highlanders another giant cup killing act to add to their collection. Ross Tokely’s opener was cancelled out just before the break by Gary Wales of Hearts. A few thought that was the chance of a shock gone but Inverness showed the world how to play football in the second half when Dennis Wyness and David Bagan both slotted perfect goals to gift Inverness CT passage to the Quarter-final. Man of the match was Hearts fan Ross Tokely. The attendance was 12016. The teams were as follows: INVERNESS CT: Walker, Tokely, Mann, McCaffrey, McBain, Munro, Duncan, Chrisite, Robson, Ritchie, Wyness. Subs- Bagan (for Christie), Calder, Bavidge, Golabek, Stewart. HEARTS: Niemi, Webster, Severin, Mahe, Maybury, Flogel, Gronlund, Fulton, McCann, Fuller, Wales. Subs- Kirk (for Webster), Simmons (for McCann), Adam (for Wales), McKenzie, Kazcan. The referee was Alan Freeland and there were two bookings on the day: Duncan and Robson both of Inverness CT. Six of the Inverness players who started the match still play for the club and one is now the manager! FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS • All League meetings between the teams have taken place in the SPL. • Paul Hartley is the top scorer in the fixture with 2 goals. • Inverness CT have never beaten Hearts at home. They have played 3 times in Inverness resulting in 2 draws and a 1-0 win for Hearts. • This fixture produces an average of 1.67 goals per game. TOP SCORERS 2 goals: Hartley (Hearts) 1 goal: Tokely, Wyness, Bagan, Juanjo, Dods, Wilson, Bayne (all ICT), Wales, Skacel, Pinilla, Mole, Driver, Aguiar (all Hearts). PLAYERS TO WATCH Russell Duncan (Inverness CT): The sometimes forgotten Inverness midfielder has started to find his form this season in recent games. He has been used to sitting on the bench this season although due to Ian Black’s disciplinary record, he has his starting place back and isn’t going to give it up lightly. Russell scored his first goal of the season in the cup last week against Dundee Utd and it was an absolute cracker. It is good to see him back in the team and performing well. Barry Wilson (Inverness CT): I can’t miss this guy out. All going to plan, Barry will make his 300th appearance for the club, becoming only the 3rd player to do so (after Charlie Christie and Ross Tokely). This is a great achievement for a man who has started to find some form recently, giving him the man of the match award against Celtic two weeks ago. Well done Barry on this incredible milestone and gaining a new contract. Christie may make him captain for the day to mark the occasion. Andrius Velicka (Hearts): The Lithuanian forward has so far contributed 10 goals this season, the top scorer at the Edinburgh side. The last time Velicka scored was in the Scottish Cup 3rd round against Stranraer where he scored a hat-trick. However, his last league goal was on the 9th December against Motherwell. Has 4 yellow cards so far this season and has played a part in 22 games.

SQUAD: Ally Ridgers, Michael Fraser, Darren Dods, Stuart Soane, Ross Tokely, Guy Kerr, Richard Hastings, Stuart McCaffrey, Grant Munro, John Rankin, Ian Black, Roy McBain, Zander Sutherland, Alan Morgan, Richie Hart, Barry Wilson, Russell Duncan, Markus Paatelainen, Gary McSwegan, Rory McAllister, Graham Bayne

Injured: Craig Dargo (dislocated shoulder) Dennis Wyness (dislocated shoulder- out for season) Suspended: Nobody.