ICT face another titanic battle this weekend...with the weather!

After the controversial postponement of last week's clash with Queen of the South, March is looking like a hectic month for the squad, so Caley will be keen to beat the snow, as well as Ayr United, on Saturday.

ICT face another titanic battle this weekend...with the weather!  After the controversial postponement of last week's clash with Queen of the South, March is looking like a hectic month for the squad, so Caley will be keen to beat the snow, as well as Ayr United, on Saturday.

Despite the call-off last time out, Inverness come into this match in third place in the table, 10 points behind leaders Dundee but with two matches in hand.  With a trip to Dens Park to come next Saturday, Terry Butcher will be desperate for maximum points from this game, plus the midweek trip to face Morton. 

As expected, Ayr have struggled following promotion from the second division and lie ninth, but picked up their first away win of the season at Dunfermline last Saturday.  Brian Reid was active in the transfer window, and his side are far stronger than when hammered 5-1 by us in October following the arrivals of loanees Ryan McGowan and Rocky Visconte (from Hearts), Daniel McKay (from Kilmarnock), and Chris Mitchell (from Falkirk), plus journeyman forward Tam McManus.

INVERNESS TEAM NEWS Jamie Duff remains a long-term casualty, but otherwise Terry Butcher has a full-strength squad to choose from.  Lee Cox and Danni Sanchez will be hopeful of being restored to the starting lineup, with Eric Odhiambo's place particularly at risk.

Likely lineup: Ryan Esson - Ross Tokely, Nauris Bulvitis, Grant Munro, Stuart Golabek - Russell Duncan, David Proctor - Jonny Hayes, Danni Sanchez, Richie Foran - Adam Rooney.  Subs: Kyle Allison, Lionel Djebi-Zadi, Lee Cox, Daniel Stratford, Eric Odhiambo

AYR TEAM NEWS Ayr could miss on-loan winger Rocky Visconte who is reported to have sustained a hamstring injury.  Veteran defender Kevin James is also out and full back Chris Mitchell is a doubt with a knee knock.  However, Billy Gibson could return to the back line after recovering from a groin problem.  In goal, Stephen Grindlay will hope to keep hold of his place, though regular first choice Craig Samson is back from suspension.

Likely lineup: Stephen Grindlay - Chris Mitchell, Andrew Aitken, Martyn Campbell, William Easton -Dean Keenan, Steve Bowey, Ryan McGowan, Junior Mendes - Tam McManus, Mark Roberts.  Subs: Craig Samson, Billy Gibson, Kenny Connolly, Alistair Woodburn, Daniel McKay

PREVIOUS MEETINGS Ayr will hope for a re-enactment of the clash between the sides back in August, a dour 0-0 draw in the Highlands.  Inverness will look to repeat their stunning 5-1 win in Ayr in October, where Richie Foran grabbed a hat-trick.  According to soccerbase.com, the sides have met 26 times in all competitions, with Inverness leading 11-6 on wins.  There have been plenty of epic clashes between the sides in the past, not least in the 2000-01 season, which included a 7-3 league win for ICT (Teasdale, Sheerin, Wyness 3, Bagan 2 for us) and a 4-3 cup win for Caley when 3-0 down at half-time (Sheerin, Mann, Xausa and Wyness on target).

PREDICTION If the game actually goes ahead, anything other than a home win would deal a severe blow to Caley's title hopes.  Despite Ayr's recent reinforcements, ICT should be too good and win 2-0.