Ayrshire double header part two. 

Yes folks, after the humiliation of midweek at Somerset Park it's part two of the Ayrshire themed week as Kilmarnock head north to face a bedraggled Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Inverness slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ayr Ayr super Ayr on wednesday evening and confidence is at an all time low.  To add insult to injury, (no pun intended), Jonny Hayes joins the list of casualties after damaging his shoulder against Ayr.

Where do Terry & Mo turn now?  A season which started full of promise with a new look squad and murmurs of playing the ball on the deck has suddenly become a mini crisis as one solitary point from five SPL games, with the added termination of our League Cup employment, makes for grim reading.  Our injury list is as long as it's ever been and the news that Tom Aldred has returned to Watford has rocked the already disgruntled fans.  We have not quite reached the stage where the shoes come off, but another two or three games without a win will certainly have the tongues wagging.

It's easy to say that the release of our backbone from last season has been the difference between success and failure and that the gelling operation has taken longer than expected, but the buck stops at one place, the manager.  Butcher has remained upbeat despite the setbacks in the league games, but he found it more difficult to accept the manner in which the club slipped out of the cup on Wednesday.  Once again a lack lustre first half was followed by a much livlier second forty-five, but once again we failed to make the most of our opportunities.  Maybe the return from injury of Billy Mackay will inject some much needed opportunism in front of goals, who knows, we have yet to see what he is capable of, but the longer this goes on, the more weight will be on his young shoulders.

Match Stats : This league fixture in Inverness has been pretty even, with four wins apiece and two games drawn.  Forty goals have been scored in ten fixtures, that's a healthy four goals per game.  A couple of high scoring encounters when Killie won 3-4 in 2006 and a 3-3 draw the previous season.  The biggest winning margin was a 3-0 victory for Inverness in April 2008.  The best away victory came last December when Killie won 1-3, with goals from Bryson, Kelly and Hamill.  Richie Foran scored the Inverness goal that day. 

Inverness did triumph in a Scottish Cup game on a snowy saturday in Feb 2009, goals from Pavels Mihadjuks and one Adam Rooney making sure that Inverness reached the quarter finals.  Where are they now?  Maybe we should go back to using the yellow ball.  Just to compound Killies day, Kevin Kyle was red carded in this game for elbowing David Proctor.  This was Butcher's first win in charge of the Caley Jags, coming after a no scoring draw with Celtic.  However, the revival did not last for ever and Inverness were out of the cup in the next round and relegated at the end of the season, Falkirk having a big say in both events and red cards for Lionel Djebi Zadi and Ross Tokely.  Indeed, where are they now, only Esson, Tokely and Foran remain at Inverness.

Current Form

Inverness sit bottom of the league for a reason. The worst defensive record in the league and one point from the first five games.  Three of those goals against have come at home.  A poor start to the season for Butcher's men, but not an uncommon occurance for the Jags, seen as slow starters by many.  A break for cup duty in midweek should have lifted the spirits, but it was more doom and gloom for the supporters as Ayr looked more like the SPL side as they defeated Inverness 1-0.  I have to say that our form so far this season has been disappointing to put it mildly.

Kilmarnock have only played four league games and they sit in sixth place with six points.  They crushed Hibernian 4-1 a couple of weeks ago  and have drawn with Hearts, Motherwell and Dundee United.  Killie have only scored one away goal so far this season.  On the other hand, they have only lost one goal as well.  They remain unbeaten after four games.

Team News

Inverness have plenty of problems ahead of this game as the injury list has increased steadily with Jonny Hayes damaging shoulder ligaments.  He is added to a list that includes Cox, Tudur-Jones, Gillet, Proctor, Mackay, and Meekings.  With no recognised out and out strikers available, Butcher has had to use Foran, Tade and Sutherland as front men, a ploy that has not set the heather on fire so far.  The defence has been changed on a weekly basis due to injuries and suspensions and with young Spaniard Roman Golobart being thrown in at the deep end it was the final straw for Tom (The Tank) Aldred who returned to his parent club Watford.  That was a bemusing move by the management as Tom looked to be a steady if unspectacular centre back in pre-season, but was left out as soon as the new kid on the block arrived; how odd.  The midfield will be without the enigmatic Irishman Jonny Hayes.  His pace and trickery will be sorely missed but this will open doors for Tade, Morrison and Sutherland to make an impact.  Andrew Shinnie also had a run out at Ayr as a second half substitute and he is another who could find a starting place.  Tuffey played well in goals, however I would expect last seasons player of the year Ryan Esson to return to action for the SPL match.

Kilmarnock gaffer Kenny Shiels has lost the services of central defender Ryan o'Leary for the season after he damaged cruciate ligaments in last weeks 0-0 draw with Hearts.  Paul Heffernan is also out with a calf strain and David Silva is a longer term absentee.  Tim Clancy is on his way to Motherwell and that combined with the injury to O'Leary means Shiels is on the lookout for another stopper.  This move for Clancy will free up some money for Killie to fill the gap left by O'Leary, and Shiels is looking further afield in his search for a replacement.  Former Motherwell defender Paul Quinn is a name being touted around as a possible target.  He is plying his trade at Cardiff City just now in the Championship League.

tm4tj Prediction : This is traditionally a high scoring game.  However, only one of these sides seems capable of doing that at this moment, although the Inverness defence is conducive to high scoring encounters.  This augers well for Kilmarnock and although my heart says one thing, my head tells me a different story and only one outcome.  A win for the visitors; at best a point for the homesters.

Butcher was scathing in his assessment of his squad at Ayr in midweek and he told BBC Sport :-  "I feel badly let down and I think the club feels badly let down as well - the players know, as I've told them in no uncertain terms, that they have to pull their fingers out and get going again," he said.

"We have enough in the squad to have done a lot better and that's the most disappointing thing; players are playing well below their level at the moment and, as a team, we're playing well below our level as well.

"I don't like teams to be hungrier than mine, but Ayr certainly were and full credit to them - I wish them good luck in the next round."

Will this get the desired reaction from the team or will it have an adverse effect, we will find out this Saturday.

***Latest Team News:- Billy Mackay should make the bench and that will give the fans a boost as goals are at a premium just now.  Greg Tansey is reported to be struggling with a knee knock and could miss out adding to the Highlanders injury problems.  The news on Jonny Hayes is not good either, up to eight weeks is the prognosis for the wee man.  Get well soon.

Other News:-  All three Scottish clubs crashed out of European action this week, nothing new there then.