ICT V Falkirk - Preview

With the 'membership' of the top and bottom six already decided, Celtic mathematically on the brink of confirming their title, and most other teams at worst only three points away from ensuring any relegation dogfight only contains St Mirren and Dunfermline, this final pre-split fixture may seem 'meaningless' but it is a chance for Caley Thistle to perhaps try out a few things for next season whilst also trying to finish as high as possible in the table. Andrew Fraser previews the match.

Inverness CT v Falkirk Tulloch Caledonian Stadium Saturday 7th April at 3pm SPL Referee: Crawford Allan Others: Keith Sorbie, Steve Pullar (Assistants), Euan Norris (4th official). 

Tickets: Cash gates will be available on the day. TV-info: LIVE commentary on BBC Radio Scotland. FIXTURES Saturday 7th April Aberdeen v Dundee Utd Celtic v Motherwell Dunfermline v Hibernian Hearts v Kilmarnock Inverness CT v Falkirk Sunday 8th April St Mirren v Rangers (Setanta, 2pm) Then the SPL splits into two separate leagues where each team plays 5 more games. SPL RECENT RESULTS Saturday 31st March Dundee Utd (Daly) 1-1 Celtic (Nakamura) Falkirk (Moutinho, O’Donnell) 2-0 St Mirren Kilmarnock (Naismith) 1-2 Aberdeen (Fowler o.g, Anderson) Motherwell (McDonald 2) 2-0 Dunfermline Rangers (Adam) 1-1 Inverness CT (Dargo) Sunday 1st April Hibernian 0-1 Hearts (Zaliukas) Tuesday 3rd April Motherwell 0-1 Kilmarnock (Nish) Wednesday 4th April St Mirren (Sutton) 1-1 Hibernian (Jones) PAST MEETINGS The teams have played a total of 27 times (26 League, 1 Cup) with 87 goals (41 Inverness CT, 46 Falkirk) between them. Inverness CT: 8 wins (8 League, 0 Cup) Draws: 6 (6 League, 0 Cup) Falkirk: 13 wins (12 League, 1 Cup) FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS • There have been 20 1st Division games and 6 SPL games between the teams. • There has only been 1 cup game between the teams, which took place earlier this season in Inverness with Falkirk winning 1-0. • The teams average 3.2 goals a game in the fixtures between these two teams. • The biggest win in the fixture was when Inverness CT beat the Bairns 4-1 at the Falkirk Stadium on the 21/01/2006. Goals from Wilson, Wyness, Dargo and Tokely gave Caley Thistle a comfortable victory. Ireland scored a consolation for Falkirk. • The last meeting between the team finished 3-1 to Falkirk. After Inverness started strongly in the Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk quickly ran to a 3-0 half time thanks to an Anthony Stokes hat-trick in his last game for the club. Then it got worse for the Highlanders as Ian Black got sent off for kicking a training ball away. But 10-man Inverness defended well in the second half with a John Rankin cracker giving Inverness some consolation. The attendance was 4516. PLAYERS TO WATCH Stuart McCaffrey (Inverness CT): The ex-Aberdeen defender is likely to play on Saturday due to the suspension of Darren Dods, the man that 'stole' his place in the team way back in 2004. Dods got sent off after only 14 minutes at Ibrox last Saturday, and so Christie had no alternative but to sacrifice Paatelainen and bring on McCaffrey. Stuart had a great game and will have given fans some positive feeling for next season when it is likely Munro and himself will partner each other in the centre of the defence. McCaffrey must be given credit for staying at Inverness and trying to fight for his place and let’s hope that next season his patience is rewarded. Russell Latapy (Falkirk): The veteran midfielder is a key member of the Bairns set-up and if Falkirk were to lose him next season, it would be a big loss for John Hughes to deal with. He starred in last weeks 2-0 victory over St Mirren, as his master class shone throughout the game. I am sure the youngsters at Falkirk are benefiting from his experience and it will be interesting to see if he remains at the Falkirk Stadium for one more season. Squad: Ally Ridgers, Jonathon Smith, Michael Fraser, Stuart Soane, Ross Tokely, Guy Kerr, Richard Hastings, Stuart McCaffrey, Grant Munro, John Rankin, Roy McBain, Zander Sutherland, Alan Morgan, Richie Hart, Barry Wilson, Russell Duncan, Markus Paatelainen, Craig Dargo, Gary McSwegan, Rory McAllister, Graham Bayne Injured: Dennis Wyness (dislocated shoulder- out for season) Suspended: Ian Black Darren Dods

History

H / A / N	Matches	W	D	L	Goals	+ / -
H	4	2	0	2	5 - 6	-1
A	3	2	0	1	7 - 4	+3
N	0	0	0	0	0 - 0	+0
Total	7	4	0	3	12 - 10	+2

Date&time	Comp.	H / A / N	Final score
30.12.2006 at 15:00	League	A	1 - 3
21.10.2006 at 15:00	League	H	3 - 2
19.09.2006 at 19:45	League Cup	H	0 - 1
03.05.2006 at 19:45	League	H	2 - 0
21.01.2006 at 15:00	League	A	4 - 1
26.10.2005 at 19:45	League	H	0 - 3
30.07.2005 at 15:00	League	A	2 - 0