Dundee Preview Dec 26th 2009

Dundee were relegated from the SPL that summer; they come into this clash with a decisive seven point lead at the top, and the Dark Blues are now twelve points better off than Inverness.

Terry Butcher and his side will be desperate for revenge after the defeat in the ALBA Cup final, where Jocky Scott’s side came from 2-0 down at half-time to win 3-2.

Since that win, Dundee have been in exhilarating form, winning each of their four matches, and they have lost only one league game so far this season. Caley Thistle, in contrast, have been consistent only in their inconsistency, but have won their last three matches at Fortress Longman. As regards promotion aspirations, a failure to defeat the league leaders on Saturday surely condemns Inverness to another season in the first division. TEAM NEWS INVERNESS The home side have no new injury concerns, but Stuart Golabek (hamstring), Ross Tokely (broken hand) and Jamie Duff (knee) all remain unavailable. Dougie Imrie, Russell Duncan and Eric Odhiambo, among others, will be pushing for a recall to the starting lineup after the goalless draw at Dunfermline last time out. Likely lineup: Ryan Esson – David Proctor, Nauris Bulvitis, Grant Munro, Lionel Djebi-Zadi – Jonny Hayes, Stuart Duff, Lee Cox, Richie Foran – Danni Sanchez, Adam Rooney DUNDEE The visitors welcomed back Maros Klimpl from injury last week, and the Slovak may push his way back into centre midfield. Casualties include Tony Bullock (knee), David Cowan (groin), Paul McHale (hip) and Sean Higgins (knee). Considering his side’s recent run of wins, Jocky Scott is likely to stick with the side that beat Morton at Dens Park last week. Likely lineup: Robert Douglas – Eddie Malone, Jim Lauchlan, Gary MacKenzie, Eric Paton – Gary Harkins, Richie Hart, Brian Kerr, Craig Forsyth – Leigh Griffiths, Colin McMenamin PREVIOUS MEETINGS The sides have met nine times previously, with Dundee leading 4-2 in wins (5-2 if you include shootouts). In addition to the ALBA Cup final, the two sides met on league business at Dens Park in August, with Danni Sanchez and Lee Cox on target for ICT in a 2-2 draw. The teams met four times in the SPL in 2004/05, with Inverness winning both home matches (2-1 and 3-2) with Dundee registering a 3-1 win at Dens Park in between. The penultimate match of that season saw Liam Fox nick a late equalizer, denying Dundee three points that would have seen them stay up. BLAST FROM THE PAST Two ex-ICT players are likely to feature for Dundee – Richie Hart and Brian Kerr. Former Hibs and Motherwell man Kerr spent the second half of last season at the club, but turned down the chance to stay, instead moving to Dundee in the summer. Hart, in contrast, spent six seasons with us before falling out of favour following some…er…off-the-field antics. He left for Ross County in 2008 and joined Dundee in the summer of 2009. THE HISLOPSOFFSIDE AGAIN PREDICTION Inverness have enough quality to halt Dundee’s winning run, but do they have enough backbone? I’m not sure that there’s enough belief in the Caley Thistle lineup to win this, though I would be disappointed if we didn’t grab a point. 1-1.