Rangers V ICT - Preview

Caley Thistle travel to Ibrox with a record of never having beaten Rangers. In the 7 games between the sides, Rangers have won 4 with the other 3 ending in draws.

DETAILS Rangers v Inverness CT Ibrox Stadium, Govan Saturday 14th October at 3pm

Referee: Iain Brines (same ref as last time we meet at Ibrox) Others: Steve Pullar, Lawrence Kerrigan (Assistants), Stephen Finnie (4th official).

Tickets: This match is all-ticket so tickets MUST be purchased before entering the ground. TV-info: Live commentary on BBC Sportsound (UK). Highlights available on Scotsport SPL on ITV1 on Monday evening at 11pm.

FIXTURES Saturday 14th October: Dundee Utd v Celtic (12.30pm, Setanta) Falkirk v St Mirren Kilmarnock v Aberdeen Motherwell v Dunfermline Rangers v Inverness CT Sunday 15th October: Hibernian v Hearts (2pm, Setanta) SPL ROUND-UP After Scotland playing last weekend it has been two weeks since the last SPL round of matches. It was 3 games on Saturday and 3 games on the Sunday 1st of October. On the Saturday, St Mirren shocked Hibernian in Edinburgh with a 1-0 win thanks to a wonder goal by Van Zanten. Motherwell also produced a massive shock as they recorded their first home win by a comprehensive 5-0 victory against Kilmarnock. McDonald 2, Kerr, Reynolds and Foran all supplied the goals. Also, Inverness CT overcame their home hoodoo with their first home win of the season against Dunfermline. It wasn’t pretty at times but this is a results business and Ross Tokelys 90th minute winner was a sigh of relief for all of the Inverness CT fans. On Sunday, Celtic scrapped a 1-0 at the Falkirk Stadium thanks to a McGeady goal with 6 mins to go. However, Falkirk showed they were no pushovers playing some good football. Rangers eventually overcame Aberdeen at Ibrox with a Sebo winner with 2 mins to go. Hearts convincingly beat Dundee Utd 4-0 to heap more pressure on Brewster. Makela, Hartley, Mole and an own goal was enough for the Jambos to get three points. After 9 games, Celtic top with 22pts (3pt lead) and Motherwell still sit bottom of the table with 7pts (1pt behind). RECENT SPL FORM Inverness CT: WDDWL Rangers: WLLWD PAST MEETINGS The teams have played a total of 7 times (6 League, 1 Cup) with 16 goals (5 Inverness CT, 11 Rangers) between them. Inverness CT: 0 wins (0 League, 0 Cup) Draws: 3 (3 League, 0 Cup) Rangers: 4 wins (3 League, 1 Cup) A GAME TO REMEMBER For this weeks game to remember we take you back to one of the three SPL encounters that have taken place at Ibrox. It was the most recent of meetings at this venue that took place on the 29th October 2005. Inverness CT had already lost 1-0 and drawn 1-1 before at Ibrox so were looking for more points of Glasgow Rangers. Rangers started the better with Ricksen hitting the crossbar but it was a surprised Inverness CT that took the lead thanks to a wonder goal. Craig Dargo ran onto a Mark Brown goal kick and he hit a spectacular dipping shot that beat Waterreus. They could have been 2 up had Morgan’s shot from the edge of the area gone on target. Inverness were 1-0 up at half time and the Highlanders loved every minute of it, especially the fans who sang right through the interval. Rangers immediately bombarded the Caley goal and got the equaliser through Steve Thompson on the 54th minute. However, the Inverness defence held firm throughout the rest of the match even though being reduced to 10 men due to Bayne getting sent off. Even though giving away the lead, Inverness CT were still delighted with a point at Ibrox and heaped more pressure on McLeish. The attendance was 47687. The teams were as follows: INVERNESS CT: Brown, Tokely, Dods, Munro, Hastings, Duncan, Black, Proctor, Morgan, Bayne, Dargo. Subs- Wyness (for Dargo), Fraser, McCaffrey, Parratt, Hart, Juanjo. RANGERS: Waterreus, Hutton, Malcolm, Andrews, Bernard, Ferguson, Ricksen, Hemdani, Burke, Prso, Lovenkrands. Subs- Thompson (for Burke), Klos, Rae, Murray, Namouchi, Smith, McCormack. The referee was Iain Brines and there were 7 bookings and 1 sending off on the day. Hemdani, Malcolm and Ricksen all got cautioned for Rangers and Bayne, Black, Tokely and Dargo all got cautioned for Inverness with Bayne later getting sent off. Only one of the Inverness players who started the match has left the club, David Proctor going to Dundee Utd. FACTS BETWEEN THE TEAMS • All League meetings between the teams have taken place in the SPL. • Inverness CT have never won against Rangers. • This will be Paul Le Guen’s first taste of playing the Highlanders. • Charlie Christie’s first official game since taking over the managers job permanently was at home to Rangers. • The last time these two came face to face Rangers came out on top in a close 3-2 win in Inverness. Dargo and Wyness scored for the Highlanders. PLAYERS TO WATCH Graham Bayne (Inverness CT): Bayne has taken the place of the injured Wyness in recent weeks and has always given 100%. His aerial presence could be a key against a Rangers defence with weak heading. Whether he starts or comes on as a sub with 15 minutes to go, he is a big problem for any defence to deal with. Bayne is the sort of player that will run himself into the ground no matter who the opposition is and fully deserves more goals for his play. Gary McSwegan (Inverness CT): I wonder what sort of odds their would have been a year ago for McSwegan making his Inverness debut at Ibrox? It just may happen on Saturday as McSwegan got 2 goals for the reserves midweek. He is approaching full fitness and could make his debut by coming off the bench. Are we dreaming of his debut goal being a 90th minute winner? Goalkeeper (Rangers): It will be very interesting which player plays in goals for Rangers on Saturday. Allan McGregor has been on top form for the Gers since Lionel Letizi was injured 2 months ago. However Letizi played his first game back during the week in a reserves match against Celtic which they lost 3-2. Letizi has now been declared fit and is in contention for the big game. Le Guen has a headache over who to choose for the game on Saturday with Europe in mind on Thursday night. In my opinion, I believe McGregor fully deserves the no1 jersey for his recent performances but I think Le Guen will opt for his fellow countryman. Whoever it is will have to put up a good performance to keep their place. FUTURE FIXTURES 27th Dec 2006 at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium (8pm) 31st Mar 2007 at Ibrox Stadium NOTE TO ALL FANS ATTENDING MATCH MAKE AS MUCH NOISE AS POSSIBLE TO DROWN OUT THE HOME FANS. ALL THOSE ATTENDING ENJOY THE MATCH AND I LOOK FORWARD TO WITNESSING OUR 1ST VICTORY OVER RANGERS. SEE YOU AT THE MATCH. Squad: Mark Brown, Jonathon Smith, Michael Fraser, Darren Dods, Stuart Soane, Ross Tokely, Guy Kerr, Richard Hastings, Stuart McCaffrey, Stuart Golabek, Grant Munro, John Rankin, Ian Black, Roy McBain, Zander Sutherland, Alan Morgan, Richie Hart, Barry Wilson, Russell Duncan, Craig Dargo, Rory McAllister, Dennis Wyness, Graham Bayne Injured: Nobody. Suspended: Liam Keogh (sent off in reserves match)