Steelmen are no fools

Rejuvenated Motherwell are the visitors as we enter April, a month where fools are tolerated, but just for one day.

Going into this game, Inverness trail Motherwell by five points thanks to the Steelmen winning five of their last six games. In stark contrast, we have won only once in our last six as we struggled for some consistency. But what a win it was, 0-3 in the local derby as we crushed Dingwall at the Global Energy Stadium.

Top-six looks just out of our reach, but we will have a better understanding of it after the results this weekend. It's almost out of our own hands. Defeat would probably end our aspirations. However, there are six teams vying for three places with St Johnstone, Motherwell and Ross County in pole position.

We started our domestic season with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Motherwell but we have the edge over them since then with a 3-1 league win and a 2-1 Scottish Cup win, both games at Fir Park. However, it looks as though Mark McGhee is turning their season round as they have surged into the top half of the table, leaving the relegation battle for others to contend.

The last games for either side were fantastic occasions. Motherwell came from behind to beat the once famous Aberdeen. Second half goals from Scott McDonald and Louis Moult overcame a Kenny McLean penalty to secure the points and move Motherwell into fifth place in the league. Something that looked a long way off a couple of months ago. We kept our best performance of the season for Ross County to ensure the Highlands are still ours. We appeared to abandon our error strewn mis-passing game and the direct route paid dividends as we scored three tremendous goals. Miles Storey scored the pick of the bunch with a tremendous volley after great control of a long ball on his chest. Not only did he score, he was running at the County defence all afternoon and a worthy MotM.

John Hughes has more choice available after the international break with James Vincent and Andrea Mutombo at his disposal. Still out are Aaron Doran, David Raven, Alex Fisher and Dean Brill, with Greg Tansey serving a one match ban.

Mark McGhee can call on the returning captain Keith Lasley and defender Ben Hall to bolster his squad. However, James McFadden is out after breaking his ankle in training and Stephen Pearson and Louis Laing join him on the sidelines.

tm4tj prediction:- If we continue where we left off at Dingwall, this should be a walk in the park. Unfortunately our season has been littered with disappointments and nothing is guaranteed in this league. With Motherwell on a roll and Inverness upping their strategy, this could make for an entertaining game. Both sides will be looking for maximum points and that should open the game up and make for plenty of opportunities. Miles Storey will have gained in confidence after last weeks performance and Liam Hughes showed us the value of a giant front man. With Josh Meekings back in defence things are looking up. We will need to shackle the Wells' top scorer Louis Moult as he has a habit of scoring against us.

I'm going for a home win

Derby Day

It's over the bridge on Saturday as dethroned Inverness take on League Cup winners Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium.

It's a big day for County as they have a parade immediately after the game to show off their recently acquired silverware. Would it be rude of us to actually turn up and have the temerity to win. That would be highly unlikely given our recent demise, but it is a derby and points are now at a premium.

We slumped out of the Scottish Cup on Wednesday night against Hibernian, a result as much to do with team selection as the performance on the park. Yogi mysteriously kept his fire power on the bench when we needed to score goals to progress. Baffling decision and that needs to change if we want to harbour any thought about taking points from Dingwall.

County of course beat Hibernian to lift the League Cup and followed that up by drawing at St Johnstone in midweek, coming from a goal down to get a point. They achieved that by virtue of a spot kick converted by Brian Graham.

Current form will show that Inverness are on the slide with only one point from our last five League games, that being the 1-1 draw at Dens Park. That goal is the only one scored during this slump and we have conceded eight. County are on a high just now, two wins and a draw in their last five and the added boost of winning the Cup last Sunday. County are in fourth place with 40 points while we languish in ninth with 33 points. How times have changed.

Inverness still have half a dozen casualties but it was good to see Josh Meekings and Richie Foran do ninety minutes in midweek. Let's hope they show no reaction to that. I also hope that Jordan Roberts, Miles Storey and Danny Williams will be on the park sooner than they were against Hibs. Greg Tansey returns after missing the Cup debacle through suspension.

Ross County rested a few in midweek, namely Alex Schalk, Liam Boyce and Ricky Foster and they will be contenders for a start on Saturday. Scott Fox and Craig Curran are still out.

We have already beaten County twice this season although they won at Inverness en-route to their League Cup triumph, but confidence is low at the Inverness side of the Kessock Bridge and with John Hughes tinkering with team selection then it's anyone's guess what Caley Jags team will turn up on Saturday.

tm4tj Prediction:- Oh my, I fear for us if we allow County to settle on their own turf. I see no reason to believe that we can change our recent pattern of creating nothing over ninety minutes and with County in party mood then we will do well to hang on in there. Heart says a point, head says we will get thumped. Meh.

Another Chance.

For one of these sides, their season is about to get worse. Hibernian travel North for this Scottish Cup replay at Inverness, hot on the heels of their League Cup final defeat at the hands of our dear neighbours and Highland compatriots, Ross County.

It's a 7:45pm kick off at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, the prize for the victor will be a semi-final meeting with Dundee United and a tremendous opportunity to reach the Scottish Cup Final against either Celtic or the Rangers.

The first game at Easter Road ended in stalemate as Hibs failed to capitalise on their early superiority. Inverness were content to faff around and wait for something to happen and it did. Hibs scored early in the second half through James Keatings with a smart finish. This roused Inverness and Andrea Mutombo scored an equally impressive goal after great work by Lewis Horner who chased a ball to the bye line before sliding a ball into the box where Jordan Roberts touched it on to Mutombo. He was calmness personified as he rolled the ball under his studs before lashing it home with his left peg. Rumour has it that around eighteen passes were involved in that goal.

Both sides will have players returning for this game. Inverness have been seriously understrength of late with a full team of potential starters missing. One bright note on Saturday was the return to action of Richie Foran who injected some urgency and leadership on the park in what was an otherwise luckless display as we went down to legendary timewasters Hamilton Accies. Gary Warren and Carl Tremarco missed that game through suspension, and eight or nine others were out injured.

Hibs will have their talismanic top scorer Jason Cummings back and he can be a handful with his shoot on sight ability. Former St Mirren player John McGinn has been called up to the Scotland set up and will also be a menace and Anthony Stokes knows his way around. Kevin Thomson is a seasoned pro and James Keatings is energetic enough to cause problems. Liam Henderson is another that looked promising for Hibs along with Lewis Stevenson. All in, Hibs are not short of talent and this will be another tough test for both sides.

Latest team news:-

Inverness will be without Greg Tansey, the latest to suffer the archaic rule of two bookings and yer out. It'll be jumpers for goalposts and three corners a penalty next. However, to balance that, Carl Tremarco and Gary Warren should return after their misdemeanours saw them miss the Hamilton match. Richie Foran had twenty minutes against Accies and looked OK. Meekings has started training but there is no hint of a return for Raven, Vincent, Doran, Brill, Fisher or Mutombo.

Alan Stubbs will have Jason Cummings back after he missed the first game through suspension. Dylan McGeouch is a major doubt after he limped off in the first game and he missed the League Cup final.

tm4tj prediction:- We have had a rough time of it lately and a win here would be a tremendous confidence booster. Hibs have been poor of late as have we, but going down to Morton, Dumbarton and Queen of the South in successive Championship games is not the sign of a side deserving of a promotion shot despite their tremendous facilities and potentially massive fanbase. I said it before the first game that we would go through after a replay and I will stick by that prediction, but only if we up our energy levels and compete from the off. We will certainly need to monitor Jason Cummings closely, but it's what we do at the other end that is more important to the outcome of this tie. We have been less than impressive when trying to create anything and even less impressive getting shots on target. That has to change or we will be handing the Cup back to Hampden Park and then their will only be one Cup left in the Highlands.

Crucial stage of the season.

From looking at securing a top-six place only a few weeks ago, Inverness have hit the wall and are now staring into the abyss which is the relegation dog-fight, and this game has now taken on crucial proportions.

Only one point gained in our last four games, all away from home, has seen us spiral out of control down the table. We are now in ninth place only five points of the play off place currently occupied by Kilmarnock. Last season is history and we need to get the proverbial finger out and stop moving sideways and backwards. How nice would it be to take a leaf out of Pele's book and go gung ho once in a while? Unfortunately we appear to be one of the poorest sides in the division at the moment, and unless Yogi can rethink his tactics and take the game to Accies, we could be in major trouble.

Should we lose to Hamilton, they will join us on 33 points and with Dundee United starting to perform, the games after the split will be challenging to say the least. With our style of play inviting trouble onto us and a complete lack of attacking flair and creation, it is difficult to see where the rot will stop.

On a positive note, Accies can match us in terms of being rubbish of late with just one win in their last fourteen games. The lowlights being an 8-1 hammering from Celtic and that 4-1 Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of the mighty Annan Athletic.

We won the last encounter with Hamilton 3-4 in an amazing topsy turvy game full of sensational goals, Liam Polworth scoring a screamer in injury time after we looked to have thrown away a two goal lead earlier in the game. In the first game in the Highlands, Accies came away with all three points after a frustrating 0-2 win. Inverness were caught out having missed numerous good opportunities in our Dani Lopez days and Carlton Morris and Louis Longridge did the damage, although our self inflicted sloppy possession game was already evident this early in the season. Little has changed since then and that is why we find ourselves in a spot of bother.

It's difficult to get too enthusiastic over these games given our reluctance to entertain, but we have brought much of the negativity on ourselves and now find it difficult to play open attacking football as the threat of not losing is greater than the desire to try and win.

Yogi said after the defeat in Perth that it was difficult to create anything once we went down to ten men. Hello John! I have news for you. We never created anything with eleven on the park, so what's new. We are still suffering through injuries, illness and suspensions, but that has been going on all season and we are running out of excuses for our inability to see out games.

Inverness will be without the suspended Carl Tremarco and Wednesday's red card villain Gary Warren. Miles Storey and Andrea Mutombo missed the Perth game through illness and the long awaited return of Josh Meekings and James Vincent has yet to materialise. Same old same old with injuries although Richie Foran appeared on the bench in midweek but he never got off it.

Hamilton have their own red card victim. Jesus Garcia Tena is suspended but Danny Redmond is looking to return to the squad after injury. Martin Canning is still short of fitness after his lay off.

tm4tj Prediction:- The only prediction I am willing to make is that we will pass the ball sideways and backwards and create next to nothing without troubling the goalkeeper. Hamilton will defend in depth and waste time from the off. 0-0 draw on the cards and if I am wrong so be it.

The life of thirty year old Inverness fan and local Filth DJ Ross Lyall will be celebrated in the thirtieth minute at tomorrows game with a minutes applause . The young man who packed a lot into his life and had so much to look forward to sadly passed away last week. Ross was a regular at his beloved Caley Jags games where he will be missed by his many friends. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time and we would like all to respect Ross 30 minutes into the game. RIP Ross Lyall.

Entertainment in Perth?

Immortal Howden Ender has penned this Preview as the games come thick and fast, almost catching us out

Read on, here's Johndo's Preview...........................

Placed in a "new topic" due to indolence and memory impairment of a certain ageing administrator 

Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to St Jones Town ? Well the answer is a bit of a yes and a no. The stadium itself and the facilities are above average, the stewarding is usually friendly but it is not in a location where train travel is the preference. If you are not travelling by the roads it is a nightmare. Social club and local hostelries are rather dull as well. But there again there is the football to entertain you.

According to the stats we have won only 3 out of our 14 meetings in Perf. A worrying statistic is that we have only conjured up 10 goals in those 14 matches, an average of 0.71 per game. Although that sounds about right for this season !!

We have had two draws and a loss since the Gary Warren winner in February 2014. We have also lost 4 points because of last minute lapses in two of those ties. Lets hope we keep our concentration tonight and not throw away any vital points. If we beat them by two clear goals we will leap frog them and back into the Top Six. With Hamilton at home coming up on Saturday four to six points would be heaven sent and maybe ease the nerves for the Hibees cup replay. Lets hope we can go somewhere meeting our record 3-0 win in Perth and avoid the record 4-0 drubbing.

Games at McDiarmid Park will last in the memory of many. The Challenge Cup win over Airdrie and the final defeat by Dundee – although the first 45 was possibly as good an ICT performance as there ever has been. My favourite game was the 2-1 win in August 2003 when we were treated to the David Bingham show plus a classic goal and celebration by Stevie Hislop. We had a remarkable away record in 2010 when we remained defeated for the whole year but went down 1-0 on 02/01/2011 in Perf.

But of course the favourite St Jones Town memory will be of 15/05/2004 and the helicopter trophy arrival at the Dump after goals from Ritchie, Bingham and Wilson. Or perhaps fond memories of a defeat in the Alan Hercher Testimonial in 1997 when we had to loan them Fridgie for the night as they forgot to bring a keeper. Doubt if the same fate will befall Ryan Esson tonight.

Lets all hope that we return to playing four at the back tonight and stop playing like obsessive crabs. It will be interesting to see if Horner and Mutumbo return after their super-sub performances. I do feel that Miles Storey needs to be rested. And will we finally see Meekings and Vincent back on the bench.

IHE Prediction – always seems to be low scoring affairs of late – only 6 goals in the last 4 matches. My heart says 1-0 to us but my head says 1-1. I would gladly take either of those.

The defence of our trophy.

Inverness continue the defence of their trophy at Easter Road in a 2:00pm kick off on Sunday in the quarter finals of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

This will be the last quarter final to be played and we already know the outcome of the Saturday cup games. The Rangers thumped Dundee 4-0 in the early game and ten man Dundee United knocked Ross County out as Billy Mckay scored the winner in a thrilling 2-3 win at Dingwall. Celtic take on Morton in Sundays early kick off and the Cappielow club will be hoping for a repeat of the league Cup result from three years ago when they put Celtic out after extra-time.

Hibs have won the Scottish Cup twice. That in itself is not unusual, but their last triumph in this competition was back in 1902 when they defeated Celtic 1-0 at Celtic Park in front of 16,000 fans. That's 114 years and counting. Incidentally, Inverness Caledonian beat Stranraer 6-1 in the first round that same year before going down 5-1 at Ibrox against Rangers.

Hibs have reached the Quarter Finals by beating Raith Rovers 2-0 away from home and then coming back from the dead to draw 2-2 at Tynecastle. In the replay, Hibs went through thanks to a Jason Cummings strike. However their top scorer will miss the tie against us as he is suspended after being red carded

Inverness made it here after needing a replay to dispose of Stirling Albion 2-0. Andrea Mutombo scoring the goal of the round in that replay. Jordan Roberts was the match winner as he replicated Mutombo's feat by scoring a spectacular winner at Fir Park against Motherwell in a 1-2 victory.

Hibs are coming into this game off the back of three defeats in a row in the Championship and have now slipped down to third in the division as these results take their toll. Morton, Dumbarton and Queen of the South were the teams that beat the Hibees and Falkirk are now above them in the league.

Inverness have little to shout about. We have slumped to ninth in the Premiership after a series of frustratingly grim performances and gifting goals like nobodies business. It's four games since we won, beating Aberdeen 3-1 with a stirring performance, but erratic form, injuries and suspensions have curbed our desire to entertain and we now find ourselves staring at the heart of the relegation battle. Defeat at Tynecastle has thrown our season into despair and just when we thought our injury predicament was getting better, we had nine players out receiving treatment and Ross Draper suspended.

Yogi has been proclaiming the Hibernian side this week and despite criticism from some fans regarding his comments I tend to agree that Hibs are a miss to the Premiership. If nothing else, it's a great day out in Leith and one of the better grounds in Scotland. It's the usual posturing prior to games and bigging up Hibs will help to make them more complacent. I'm sure Yogi will be looking to end their cup run despite his history with the Easter Road club. It's all part of the game.

Alan Stubbs will be without a trio of suspended players. Jason Cummings, Paul Hanlon and Marvin Bartley.

John Hughes will have Ross Draper back after his suspension and the good new continues with Josh Meekings and James Vincent likely to be added to the squad as they recover from injury. Andrea Mutombo is a doubt but Richie Foran, Aaron Doran, Alex Fisher, David Raven, Nat Wedderburn and Dean Brill are all out.

tm4tj Prediction:- I'm taking Inverness to get into the semi-final, but it might take a replay to sort this one out. Our wafer thin squad has been exposed recently, but it's great to have Draper back and with Meekings and Vincent set to return things are looking up. Scoring goals is a problem and Miles Storey and Jordan Roberts will be the men asked to do just that. Hibs will miss the tenacity of Cummings up front, but in John McGinn they have one of the most talented players in Scotland. Anthony Stokes is another who will provide a challenge for any defence and he knows the way to goal. I'm banking on our midfield holding the key to our success here and our passing game to frustrate Hibs and their big support, I'm just not sure who will be scoring the goals. Replay up North and Inverness to progress.

Tynecastle Test

Inverness make the first of two consecutive trips to the capital with a Tuesday night game against Hearts at Tynecastle in a 19:45 kick off.

On Sunday we continue our mission to retain the Scottish Cup at Easter Road, but it's the Tynecastle game we will concentrate on for now.

Hearts sit comfortably in third place in the Premiership on 47 points, fourteen ahead of Inverness who are just outside the top-six, but theoretically could jump into fourth place with a win over the Jambos. The Gorgie side are the second top scorers in the league and can also boast the second best defensive record as well. They have just one defeat in their last nine league games, at the hands of a battling Dundee United, although four of the other eight games were draws.

Inverness are in the congested area between fourth and eleventh, separated by just eight points, and a quick learning Dundee United who are making a late charge to stave off relegation. We have two defeats in the last nine games with three wins and four draws, so there's not that much between the sides in terms of current form.

In the only meeting between the clubs this season, Inverness recorded their first win in a 2-0 victory over the much fancied Hearts side. James Vincent opened the scoring that day and Miles Storey opened his account on his debut. How we could do with some more goals from our young striker now to end his barren spell. No goals in nine games since he scored against Ross County on January 2nd. I'll discount his credited goal against Motherwell as it was clear that Steven McManus knocked the ball home, Miles was miles away from the ball.

Losing a two goal lead against their bitter city rivals Hibernian, then losing the replay will have knocked the confidence from Hearts young squad somewhat. That was followed by a 2-1 loss at Tannadice, although the Arabs are on a bit of a resurgence, but nonetheless their form has been more erratic in recent weeks which will give Yogi's lads plenty of optimism about facing Hearts.

Robbie Neilson had made five changes to the side that faced Kilmarnock from the previous game. Callum Paterson could shrug off a shoulder injury from the Killie game and Jordan McGhee is free from suspension having missed the win over Killie.  Liam Smith is ready to fill in should Paterson not recover in time. Otherwise, Hearts should have an unchanged side unless tactical changes are made.

John Hughes conceded that we played second fiddle to Dundee, especially after we went ahead, and will be looking to change that. David Raven has missed the last three games with Lewis Horner deputising. Josh Meekings, James Vincent and Alex Fisher are out with Foran and Doran on the permanent casualty list. Andrea Mutombo missed out at Dundee, but that was seen as precautionary with bigger games coming up. Danny Williams will start in place of the suspended Ross Draper.

tm4tj Prediction:- Well, if we try to defend in depth against the free scoring Jambos I fear for our goal difference. We struggled badly at Dens Park looking to hold what we had, but we surrendered territory and paid the price at the end. Jordan Roberts will be a key figure for us along with Miles Storey, but it's our defence that will have to work hardest to keep the eager Tynecastle lads at bay. Our midfield should be able to compete with a Don Cowie fuelled Hearts engine room and that will be another important area where we need to challenge well and set the ball rolling. Sam Nicholson and Jamie Walker will be lively customers and we have to make sure they are not given the freedom of Tynecastle, but with Osman Sow off to China then we might have enough to stifle the free flowing Jambos. Score draw at best, but we need to be on our toes until the final whistle. A win would be a huge bonus, defeat keeps us deep in the mid-table dog fight.