Desperate Dons looking for pick-me-up.

A weekend away from SPL football and already families are at war wondering what to do. I watched Titanic sink about 42 different ways last week, unfortunately the result was the same. Like Dunfermline, Titanic was favourite to go down, and down she went. The Grand National was won by a short nose; or a long horse, that went by the name of Neptune Collonges, pipping Sunnyhill boy ........... Seabass was in third plaice, (see what I did there). The race was marred by the news that two horses were destroyed after suffering at the hands of the Aintree course, and all in the name of sport they say?

Inverness had a week off with the Scottish Cup semi-finals taking place and the results of those games has given us our first all Edinburgh Cup Final since 1896; that's 116 years for the mathematically challenged amongst us. On the Sunday, Hearts cheered up most of Scotland by enraging Neil Lennon (nothing personal Neil) with a late late penalty winner against treble winning, double winning, single trophy winners Celtic, and that with the help of the tax-man. Mr Lennon will serve a two match ban as a result of his antics at the end of the cup semi-final. Our next opponents, Aberdeen, succumbed to eleventh placed Hibernian the previous day which was another minor shock, but not totally unexpected as Hibs sometimes wayward, but nonetheless talented front pairing scored the goals that saw them through, despite a tremendous effort from Rory Fallon to keep the Dons in the tie.

So, Paw Broon will need to pick his side up after their disappointment, and where better for him to do it than at Inverness, where we seem to have the knack of helping teams out of their depression. We don't do it deliberately, but if shooting ourselves in the foot was to become an Olympic Sport, then we would certainly be amongst the medals.

The weekend off for Inverness meant that some players had too much time on their hands and twitter was awash with tranfer rumours fuelled by a mishievious leprichaun and some gullible followers, meh.

Let's get down to the nitty gritty though, with £80k available for every place gained in the table; that is a possible quarter of a million pounds up for grabs for Inverness, not to be scoffed at in these parts where money is tight, and for an Aberdonian, where every penny counts then it is as good as winning the national lottery. The God's have been kind to Inverness in the post split with three home games, although up till now, we have only four wins in Inverness this season, not a statistic we are proud of, but hopefully it will look better by the end of the campaign.

Injuries have blighted most of our season, but recently we have been able to field an on paper, stronger eleven, although the likes of Owain Tudur-Jones has been eased back in delicately after such a season wrecking injury and Jonny Hayes has had to be careful after hamstring issues curtailed his flamboyance somewhat. Aaron Doran will get his chance soon and Andrew Shinnie is targetting an appearance before the season ends, so all is not lost. Of course Chris Hogg and Andrew Shinnie are still part of the long term list, but progress is good for both lads with Hogg in a positive mood and Shinnie back running on his broken foot.

We have not had our troubles to seek this season, and one area we are definitely lacking is in the strikers department. Billy McKay has played his heart out in most games, gamely trying to hold the ball up when it is not floating high over his head, but Gregory Tade, who most fans are willing to do well seems to have gone into a confidence crisis and little is going right for the big man, it's not for the want of trying though. Maybe even trying too hard. It's a thankless task being an Inverness front man, chasing lost causes and when things don't go right at the back, then chasing the game puts even more pressure on the front men to deliver, and that has not happened often enough. McKay has not exactly over exerted the statisticians since getting fit, one solitary goal against Dundee United is a poor return to be honest. I am not convinced that playing him as a lone front man is the sharpest thing to do, and he does need a foil to help him out, that is the job of the manager to decide who fits the bill, when will we see it Terry?

The good news is that our injury list has shortened, however to counterbalance that, the bad news is that our suspension list has grown. Graeme Shinnie, Ross Tokely and Greg Tansey have all fallen foul of the totting up system and will miss the game against Aberdeen. Twenty year old Spanish defender Roman Golobart is treading a fine line and is one booking away from a suspension. Looking at the season so far, Inverness have had five red cards and fifty nine yellows. We are not the best behaved team in the league, but are by no means the worst. Rangers have received six red cards and Hibs are way out on their own with an astonishing seventy three yellows, although they have only one red to their name. It's probably no surprise to Inverness fans that our fiery Captain Richie Foran is our biggest culprit with ten yellows, most for fouling with his mouth no doubt. It would also be no surprise to find out that former Inverness player Ian Black can equal Foran's discretions, but St Mirrens' Jim Goodwin beats the lot with eleven bookings. Three players have been sent off twice, and yes, you've guessed it, Ian Black is one of them, with Aberdeens Ryan Jack and Well's Keith Lasley.

The post split matches offer players the chance to enhance their CV's ahead of the new season, and Inverness have no fewer than twelve of their first-team squad out of contract:— goalkeepers Ryan Esson and Jonny Tuffey, defenders Thomas Piermayr, Ross Tokely, Chris Hogg, David Proctor and Kenny Gillet, midfielders Owain Tudur Jones and Greg Tansey, and forwards Jonny Hayes, Gregory Tade and Billy McKay. Terry Butcher has indicated that he would like to keep as many as possible for next season as they will benefit from another year together after this seasons squad was disrupted with injuries and suspensions. Too many key players out saw Inverness flirt with relegation for most of the season and Butcher would like to put this campaign behind us and move on.

***Latest Team News***

Inverness are two down through long term injuries, Chris Hogg and Andrew Shinnie. Ryan Esson will need at least another week to recover fully from his groin injury. Ross Tokely, Greg Tansey and Graeme Shinnie are all suspended and Claude Gnakpa has left the building, Butcher ending his contract now to give Claude the chance to move on. He had made eight appearances, with six of those coming from the bench. The shackles have been released from Gregory Tade as he has been offered a contract for next season already. Maybe this will allow the enigmatic Frenchman to open up and let the tricks flow, as he has been a bit reserved recently

Aberdeen boss Craig Brown will shuffle his pack after the disappointment of last week and Jamie Langfield will be starting, with squad places for youngsters Cammy Smith and Jamie Masson. Gavin Rae is back in contention after missing the cup game. Clark Robertson will miss the drive along the A96 after injuring his knee in training. Darren Mackie and Stephen Hughes are out along with Peter Pawlett, Mo Chalali, Isaac Osbourne, Rob Milsom and Yoann Folly. Looks like the Dons have inherited our lengthy injury list.

tm4tj Prediction:- If I had a penny for every prediction I have got wrong, then I would be a rich man. However, this one looks to have a more than even chance of being close to the mark. Neither side have set the heather on fire recently and the Dons are in despondency after their Scottish Cup exit at the hands of lowly Hibernian. Gregory Tade has received a lift with the news he will have a contract for next season and our injury list is as good as it gets for this season. Gnakpa has returned south but will not be missed as most of his eight appearances were as a substitute. If there are two more defence minded managers in the SPL, then I have yet to see them and for that reason, I will go for a 0-0 draw. My second guess would be 1-0 for the home side, but given our suspension list then it's possible that the Dons could sneak an away win. With that in mind, I'll stick to my original guesstimate and go for the draw.