Cup Action

 

Its a break from the rigours of the Championship this weekend as Morton head North looking to progress in the Scottish Cup. The game kicks-off at 3:00pm and for those unable to get to the Caledonian Stadium, ICTV will be streaming the match for a tenner.

Not a big change for either side though as these two Championship sides clash in the 3rd round. They have met in the Scottish Cup twice before with Inverness dishing out heavy defeats of 4-0 and 5-1. In other knockout competitions there has been two meetings with the Caley Jags winning them both.

MATCH INFO & TICKETS

LIVE STREAMING £10

OFFICIAL PREVIEW

Venue Head 2 Head

Pld

Won

Drn

Lst

For

Agst

+ / -

Home	17	12	3	2	45	15	+30
Away	14	8	2	4	27	17	+10
Neutral	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total	31	20	5	6	72	32	+40

Last 10 Competitive Meetings

2 - 0 (H)

4 - 1 (A)

0 - 1 (H)

2 - 2 (A)

3 - 2 (H)

1 - 2 (A)

3 - 1 (H)

5 - 0 (H)

2 - 2 (A)

1 - 0 (H)

 

In this season's encounter Inverness won 2-0 recently on league duty and will play Morton away in another couple of weeks at Cappielow. We have a great overall record against Morton with only two defeats in seventeen games, however, that defeat came as recently as March of this year and here is our match overview. Abysmal, a new low! A stormy evening saw no goals at the break. Todorov came closest when he hit the post just before the interval. Could it get worse? The answer was yes when Aidan Nesbitt drilled a low shot into the net from the edge of the box with Inverness unable to make any headway. With twenty minutes left you could see the game slowly drifting away from the hosts. Sutherland hit the woodwork again and Todorov's follow up 'goal' was ruled out.

Last time out Inverness dominated Queen of the South and came away from Palmerston with all three points thanks to a Billy Mckay brace in a 2-1 win. That was our first win in six games, so nothing to crow about really, but the performance was much easier on the eye than recent offerings.

Morton went down 2-1 at Starks Park after taking the lead through Ledger in the fifth minute but Raith took the points as Morton ended the game with ten men when Lithgow was sent off with 15 minutes remaining. Morton remain in the bottom two after some indifferent performances.

 

Latest Team News

The mystery and intrigue surrounding our squad is coming to a head and our injury list has never been forthcoming. Look out for either Carson or Gardyne starting and hopefully our other 'niggles' will start clearing up soon. Sean Welsh, Tom Walsh, Wallace Duffy and Michael Gardyne were missing against Queen of the South but Shane Sutherland and Roddy MacGregor made a welcome return to the starting XI

Here's Morton's squad from the 2-1 defeat at Starks Park last week where they ended the game with ten men after Lithgow was red carded.

 

I can't bring myself to get too upset about that as long as it purges our recent inability to beat Morton in time for the weekend.

Same old, same old.  Plenty of action up to and around the box, but unable to put the ball away.

That will cost us in the league, too.

Even if the cups are not so important - and I might not agree with that - being dumped out by Raith and Morton will do nothing for the team's confidence.

Really disappointing.  And we had a strong team out.  Let's hope we can get our act together on Sat and give them a good pumping.

That’s three times we’ve lost out on penalties this season. Why were guys like Carson or Walsh not stepping forward? I was happy Sutherland didn’t given his recent record.

Now we need to focus on the league and be aiming for first place or, at the very least, second.

Morton are no great shakes so we need to put things right on Saturday. 

Edited December 7, 20213 yr by Robert

No comment your honour...

Sadly another game we should have won even after going behind but failed to score but it leaves us to concentrate on the league!

Time for the likes of Doran, Walsh , Duku and Sutherland to step up. How many goals between them this season. Not many I bet.

The first and hopefully last time that Banks o’Dee go further than us in the Cup!

Surprised at how content some posters seem to be about going out of the Scottish Cup to a meek Morton side. We've had two wins in all competitions since mid October and that includes matches against some really poor sides and you can add last nights poor performance to the list as well. 

4 minutes ago, RiG said:

Surprised at how content some posters seem to be about going out of the Scottish Cup to a meek Morton side. We've had two wins in all competitions since mid October and that includes matches against some really poor sides and you can add last nights poor performance to the list as well. 

Agree. I thought we were very poor last night against probably the worst side in the league. 

Our choice of penalty takers seems very odd at times....

1 minute ago, RiG said:

Surprised at how content some posters seem to be about going out of the Scottish Cup to a meek Morton side.

The more I think about it, the worse I think it is.

For a team which is aspiring to be one of the top 12 in the country, to be out of all three cups before Christmas is terrible.  We have shown, several times now, that we cannot kill off a game that we control. 

The next time we are in a knockout situation, maybe even a penalty shoot-out, could well be in the promotion playoffs.  On the basis of our cup runs - by then, distant experiences - what confidence could we have?  

With Gardyne gone and Duku a dud, we desperately need to strengthen the attack.  The defence is fine.

1 hour ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

The more I think about it, the worse I think it is.

For a team which is aspiring to be one of the top 12 in the country, to be out of all three cups before Christmas is terrible.  We have shown, several times now, that we cannot kill off a game that we control. 

The next time we are in a knockout situation, maybe even a penalty shoot-out, could well be in the promotion playoffs.  On the basis of our cup runs - by then, distant experiences - what confidence could we have?  

With Gardyne gone and Duku a dud, we desperately need to strengthen the attack.  The defence is fine.

Gardyne is indeed a loss and we need to find a replacement during the January window.

However, I do think that we would also benefit from some cover in defence for the run in.

The only game in town now is the league and we need to be in the strongest position to gain promotion, hopefully automatically but at the very minimum though the play offs.

Seems reasonable in the current circumstances to focus on the league. What would be good then is to see games out from winning positions and to have resilience in games when going behind. Achieving both would go a long way to getting the points we need. Some reinforcements would be nice but let's acknowledge that through a team effort they are top of the league. 👏🏻👏🏻

3 hours ago, old caley girl said:

Agree. I thought we were very poor last night against probably the worst side in the league. 

Our choice of penalty takers seems very odd at times....

On the contrary, Devine was the only one who could score in 90 minutes...😉

3 hours ago, RiG said:

Surprised at how content some posters seem to be about going out of the Scottish Cup to a meek Morton side. We've had two wins in all competitions since mid October and that includes matches against some really poor sides and you can add last nights poor performance to the list as well. 

I'm surprised at how a squeaky one nil at home to a poor Kilmarnock shower seemed to make folk forget the limp run we're on.

Our form reads as it is, consistently poor.

https://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/sport/i-wouldnt-put-vermin-in-there-slams-caley-thistle-boss-ove-259452/

Billy Dodds not happy about changing facilities at Morton either....

I’m sure those comments will end up with more coverage than just the local paper.

Teams at our level aren’t prima donnas expecting luxury but there should at least be a minimum standard that clubs have to adhere to.

No doubt Morton will think that this complaint is exaggerated and that it is just sour grapes because we lost.

However, it sounds to me that it is an absolute disgrace, and needs to be investigated by the authorities (SFA?).

Maybe we should take a stance and refuse to go there on Saturday if the 'away facilities are not brought up to an acceptable standard.

If Morton think the away facilities are suitable then they should just swap changing rooms with us on Saturday to prevent further complaints.

Their ground looks like it was built in the 15th century. Small club.

40 minutes ago, Fontaines ICT said:

Their ground looks like it was built in the 15th century. Small club.

One of my favourite grounds, when it’s packed it’s a great atmosphere. Apart from the Cappielow Kiosk the facilities for the club do seem pretty poor though. 

18 minutes ago, ICTPAISLEY said:

One of my favourite grounds, when it’s packed it’s a great atmosphere. Apart from the Cappielow Kiosk the facilities for the club do seem pretty poor though. 

Mine too although I hate the posts in the stand!! Always like a visit there. 

1 hour ago, Fontaines ICT said:

Their ground looks like it was built in the 15th century. Small club.

A small club that we have failed to overcome in two recent attempts.

If we are to maintain our title challenge with any credibility then that has to change on Saturday and certain players have to step up to the mark no matter what, very legitimate sounding, complainants they may have about the changing facilities.

It doesn’t feel good being out of the cup before Christmas, and we need to get a grip and starting to make and take chances when on top on games. We may be top of the league, but that is more through good luck than anything, and we will start to slip down it if we don’t get a grip soon.

With Killie playing Raith and Partick playing Arbroath, a win on Saturday is a must to start stretching things a bit at the top, as at least two of our rivals will drop points.

The club has published their report on last night’s game:

https://ictfc.com/match-report-morton-1-1-ictfc-07-12-2021

Creativity is a problem. Gardyne provided some and won't play again so he needs replaced. 

Doran is getting a good run in the team. He is looking leaner and last night I thought he was looking slightly better than a very average performance that we are used to this season. Really need him to kick on and contribute some assists and goals.

I do think we have looked better when Sutherland plays in behind McKay as he runs beyond the last man but we need Walsh, Roddy, Doran etc to do the same starting from the wide areas then driving into the middle on the last man's shoulder. Sometimes our play is pretty but easy to defend against. 

 There is lots to fix, but if we do fix them, we are starting from a great position...well in the league anyway.