Caley Thistle head into their Alba Cup semi-final with local rivals Ross County on the back of two consecutive defeats and with confidence in the teams ability to mount a promotion challenge at a low ebb. Last weeks losses to Motherwell and Partick Thistle saw the Inverness men concede six goals, crash out of the league cup and lose further ground in the First Division title race. Terry Butcher was particularly furious with the first half performance against Partick Thistle that saw his side lose three goals in five minutes as Liam Buchanan ran riot and the former England skipper pulled his players in for extra training last Sunday. Although they fell to their second league defeat of the season away to Dundee last Saturday, Ross County have started the season brighter than their Highland rivals. County have won the first derby match of the season and also have impressed in scoring back-to-back victories over league leaders Queen of the South and claiming the scalp of SPL Hamilton Accies in the league cup. Past Meetings

The Highland rivals have met twice before in cup competition since 1994. The first meeting took place in 2003 when the clubs met in the Challenge Cup, then sponsored by Bell’s. The Inverness men ran out 1-0 winners on that occasion and went on to lift the trophy, with fans favourite striker Steve Hislop bagging the only goal of the game just after half-time, converting a David Bingham cut back. Current ICT squad members Ross Tokely, Stuart Golabek, David Proctor, Roy McBain and Grant Munro were all involved in that game, whereas County have no survivors. After waiting nearly a decade for a national cup-tie between Caley Thistle and County, Highland fans had just under a year to wait for the next tie as the sides were drawn to face each other in the second round of the league cup. Newly promoted Caley Thistle made the short trip to Dingwall 48 hours after losing to reigning league champions Celtic but didn’t look at all fatigued in their comfortable 1-0 win. Ross Tokely nodded home the only goal of the game just after the hour mark to give Caley Jags victory. The same quintet of survivors played for Caley Thistle in that match while the Ross County side featured John Rankin, Gary McSwegan and Don Cowie, all of whom would go on to play in the SPL for the Inverness side.

Players to watch

Although Caley Thistle fans will have tried to push last month’s ignominious defeat at County’s hands from their minds it is worth looking back at the match to assess where things went wrong for the Inverness men. Ross County dominated the centre of the park in that match, pressuring and outpassing the home side to build a basis for their victory. This dominance meant that the Inverness defence was put under pressure and the forwards were starved of service and if the result is to change then Butcher will have to improve the anaemic standard of play in the midfield. One player who has been an ever present in the league this season for ICT is former Leicester City player Lee Cox. Cox’s early season showings enthused supporters as his strong running from box-to-box, powerful tackling and clever passing filled the gap left by the departure of former talisman Ian Black. However, in the last few weeks the level of performance from Cox has dipped. Given that he is playing his first season in first team football and is only 18 years old this is perhaps to be expected – fans of the Inverness club have speculated that too much is being asked of a young, inexperienced talent. However, Cox needs to recapture the levels reached last month if Caley are to win the midfield battle and take the tie. Also key will be the performance of Cox’s midfield partner – Daniel Stratford has looked ill-at-ease in recent weeks and Russell Duncan made a vital error to gift Partick their second goal at the weekend. Butcher and Malpas will be hoping that their selection pays dividends on Sunday. Ross County suffered an injury blow to Dundee when season stand-out Richard Brittain, a former Caley Thistle signing target, suffered severe bruising on his leg after a meaty challenge from Gary Harkins. Brittain scored in the Staggies derby victory and has recovered the form that made him a stand-out for Livingston in the SPL. Although he did not suffer a broken leg as initially feared Brittain is likely to miss the weekend tie as he recovers from his injuries.

Prediction Ross County have made by far the more impressive start to the league campaign this season and have outshone their more successful Highland rivals. County fans will hope that the journey they have travelled on is not in vain and that they are not about to be moved on from their current encampment as the top dogs in Highland football. Caley can take heart in the relative drop in form showed by County over the last two games, which have seen them lose 2-0 to both Dundee sides, and the fact that County haven’t kept a clean sheet in the league since their victory in the last round over Queens. However, given the shoddy displays given over the last few weeks by Caley Jags Ross County have to be favourites to secure their first back-to-back derby victories since the election of both clubs to the SFL in 1994.