Well up for it

Motherwell are up in the Highland capital this weekend for a clash which could determine who will be third in the SPL come tea time on Saturday.  Both clubs have made a positive start to the season and Well boss Craig Brown will be looking to avenge last seasons Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of Caley Thistle.   Terry Butcher, one time Motherwell manager, will be looking to get the home record matching the magnificent away form shown by his insurgents and keep Inverness in the top half of the league.  A win would cap a great week for Doctor Butcher, who has received an honorary degree of doctor of sport from Southampton Solent University.  The 77 times capped Doc, is a regular guest lecturer on Solent’s applied sport science courses.  A fitting award for our leader who has done his share of raising the profile of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, on and off the park.  In fact Terry's all gold, and his week just got even better, as news of him being awarded Clydesdale Bank Manager of the Month for October filters through.  Maybe he should by some lottery tickets as well.

Last weekend saw Inverness extend their unbeaten away run with a deserved draw at Ibrox.  Out of the blue, Maurice Edu had opened the scoring after flumoxing everyone in the stadium, including himself, but there was no questioning the quality of the strike as he half volleyed a stunning sixteen yard shot, right out of the meat of the bat beyond the reach of an outstretched Esson.  It had to be something special to get past the in form keeper and it was.  But, Inverness are nothing if not resilliant these days and after weathering the expected onslaught, we started to carve open the Gers rearguard with astonishing regularity, mainly through the dynamic Jonny Hayes and the equaliser was coming.  Alan McGregor made an outstanding save from a Foran header but he could do nothing to stop super sub Eric Odhiambo squaring the match inside the last ten minutes.  Terry Butcher could not lavish enough praise on his squad after the point gained and will be looking forward to a taste of claret & amber.

Motherwell's last game was a Lanarkshire derby defeat at home to ICT's bogey side, Hamilton.  The steelmen missed an opportunity to level the game when Tomas Cerny saved Tom Hateley's spot kick.  The diminutive Nigel Hasselbaink had scored the decisive goal via the post to earn Accies a vital three points and stop Motherwell from creating a gap in third place.  Craig Brown was disappointed with the first half performance although the second half showing from Well gave him cause for optimism  this week, but he would like to see their dominance and possession turned into goals.

Ginger Jaggy has been researching this one and here are his views prior to the match.

Well what a Halloween that was, and hopefully Christmas can come early this Bonfire weekend, as Inverness Caledonian Thistle look to scale the dizzy heights to third place; I hope we don't get a nose bleed.  Motherwell the current tenants of third place travel North to face our very own ICT who are in fine fettle this season.  A lot of people might have looked on this game as a bounce back, had we been beaten by Rangers in Glasgow, which would have been no disgrace, but we defied the odds and returned to the Highlands with a hard earned point last weekend.  That was one of the most accomplished performances by a Caley Thistle side, and ranks with performances of yesteryear, like Feb 8th2000, and Celtic in the SPL at 2-0 down to win 3-2, and of course the numerous victories and draws that we have managed to take from Ibrox in the past.  We seem to be making a habit of nicking points from the Old Firm.  Halloween weekend was a great day out for everyone connected to Caley Thistle.  Rangers were looking to equal their best start to a season in 112 years.  And it looked as if it would happen as they took an early lead thanks to Maurice Edu.  At this stage most teams would fold and Rangers would stroll to victory.  But we are made of sterner stuff these days.  With the tactics spot on from Terry and Mo, we gave it a go, and in the second half played with no fear as we looked to take something away from Glasgow.  In the end, super sub Eric Odhiambo gave us a fantastic point and meant that we became the first team in Scotland to take anything from Rangers this season. It could have been even better, Richie Foran had a wonderful header brilliantly saved by Allan McGregor and then right at the death a great chance for Jonny Hayes was spurned as he lost his composure at the vital point.  We could have won but it still was a superb point.

Head to head Now to this week and our opponents Motherwell who make the trip up North on Saturday. Motherwell are currently one point ahead of us.  They have played some effective football this season and deserve to be in the top six, but we all know Terry Butcher would love to get one over his old club and move us ahead of them in the table.  This will be a difficult game as Well will be smarting after their surprise home defeat to Hamilton last week; they won’t want a repeat of that this weekend.  Craig Brown has built up a very good young team, even with the loss of super striker Lukas Jutkiewicz who was outstanding for them last season while on loan from Everton.  This season Jamie Murphy has been on fire for Motherwell so he will be one to watch, alongside John Sutton and ex Falkirk and Rangers forward Alan Gow.  Another one to keep an eye on is midfielder Chris Humphrey who has been a revelation in the centre this season.  Last weeks 1-0 defeat did come as a shock but they will be tough opponents in Inverness as their away form is also formidable.  Our home form has improved with us being unbeaten in two games after defeat in our first three.  Last season we beat Motherwell at home in the Scottish cup 2-0, the memorable moment was a wonder strike by Dougie Imrie to make it 2-0.  That ended up being his last goal and game for Caley Thistle before he made the move up to the SPL with Hamilton.  Motherwell is leading the head to head records as well. The teams have met 18 times in the SPL with Motherwell having the upper hand with 10 wins to our 6. There has been 2 draws where the last one came in the bottom six crunch match at Fir Park when we lead for so long and whichwould have all but made us safe from relegation. As it was we conceded and the rest is history.

Form this season

Coming into this game both teams are on an impressive run of form.  Caley Thistle has one of the best squads we have ever assembled and that is shown in our performances and results this season.  From our first 10 matches we have picked up a creditable 15 points from a possible 30. We are 5 unbeaten going into this game, which means we never lost during the month of October.  I'm sure this will lead to more recognition for Doc Butcher, (sorted).  We are also still 11 months unbeaten away from home which is a wonderful achievement (if only our home form was as good, we would be sitting pretty).  Motherwell has also made a great start getting 16 points from 30, and apart from their blemish at the weekend were also on a good run. They recorded 3 wins and two defeats, the other loss being at Ibrox.  This region of the table is something they have become accustomed to, and they finished there three seasons ago.  At the end of the season Motherwell will be looking to challenge for one of the European places alongside Hearts and Dundee United (I would say us but let’s not get too carried away). But one thing for sure this game is shaping up to be a cracker.

***Latest Team News***

Doctor Butcher has no fresh injury worries to contend with.  His biggest problems now will be who to leave out of the starting eleven.  Eric Odhiambo staked his claim for a start with his goal at Ibrox, but he is aware of the situation and is prepared to bide his time.  At only 21, he has time on his side and realises the contributions others have made to the cause this season, but he is also eager to impress and he may get a start in the home game.  The same will apply to Youngsters Shinnie and Ross who have had a baptism of fire in the SPL.  It's tough decisions ahead for Terry Butcher when his treatment table list shortens.  Cox, Blumenshtein, Innes, Proctor and Gillet are all still short of fitness for this one.

Craig Brown was disappointed to lose last week and may freshen up his eleven.  Promising Scotland U21 star Jamie Murphy has been struggling but would add some urgency to the attack alongside Nick Blackman and Chris Humphrey.  John Sutton could push for a  start, he was a sub last weekend.  Keith Lasley is desperately trying to make this one.  He pulled his hamstring a couple of weeks ago against Dundee United and is keen to get back on the park.  Striker Esteban Casagolda has not recovered from his knee injury and is unlikely to feature.

Prediction This will be a difficult game for us to continue our good early form in the SPL this season.  Motherwell will be smarting from last weeks shock defeat in the Lanarkshire derby, but generally have been in excellent form this season.  Inverness has been a revelation this season, especially away from home.   The victory over Aberdeen was a boost, and will have given the boys confidence at home.  The St Johnstone result will also have helped because we didn’t play well, especially in the first half, but managed to secure a draw and maybe create some momentum at home.  The draw at Ibrox was massive and will give the team confidence wherever they play.  I believe we will sneak this one as I think the boys are on a roll and will want to fight hard for that third spot and improve on the erratic home form.

Inverness 2-1 Motherwell, is the vision in ginger jaggies crystal balls.