Hair of the dog? ***Game Postponed - Waterlogged Pitch***

Hangover cure on the 2nd of January at 2:00pm is the fixture in Inverness as the home side seek to extend their unbeaten run to three games against the surprise packet of the season, St Johnstone. The lads from Perth come first footing at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium and will be looking to continue their good form into the new year.

Inverness remained unbeaten for the second game after a deserved point at Easter Road in midweek, achieved without the services of top scorer Andrew Shinnie and defensive stalwart Ross Tokely. Both players were sidelined with calf injuries since the narrow defeat at Ibrox and not risked since then with the hectic festive fixtures coming

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While Inverness were drawing in Edinburgh, the Perth Saints were beating Kilmarnock 2-0 and securing back-to-back wins and consecutive clean sheets. That's why they sit in fourth place in the league 13 points above Inverness. It has been a tremendous season for St Johnstone so far, with Steve Lomas continuing the good work started by Derek McInnes who departed for warmer climes in October.

Inverness' home form has been a bit erratic with 3 wins, 2 draws and 5 defeats, conceding 16 goals in the process with zero clean sheets. Much of these stats have come in our darker days from this season and Butcher will be glad to see the back of 2011 which has seen the club suffer a spate of long term injuries. This, coupled with some major decisions going gainst us in some crucial games have meant it has been difficult to gather some momentum and get some consistency in our performances, and the result of this leaves us entrenched in the lower quarter of the league with a goal difference of -12. Not the worst in the division, but not one to be proud of.

St Johnstone have the best defensive record in the SPL away from home, only Rangers equalling their miserly loss of five goals. That has given them a platform to build on and their away record is a dream for the Perth men, 5 wins, 4 draws and a solitary defeat to Hibernian at Easter Road. Their last two matches saw them score 5 goals without reply with Sandaza notching 3 of them. Saints won the first encounter this season 2-0, beating a below par Inverness during our poor early season form, Sandaza on the scoresheet in that game as well with Mackay getting the second goal. That result left us rooted to the bottom of the table on eight points and Saints in fifth with eighteen.

Head to Head at Inverness:- Including Scottish Cup and First Division games we have a healthy 5 to 1 advantage over the Super J's with only one draw. In terms of SPL games it's one win and one draw. Highest score was the 3-1 win that clinched promotion in 2004, a game which incidentally saw one of the best goals ever at the stadium. It was Keigan Parker who scored it with a stunning 35 yarder on the run into the top corner; some strike. That was however overshadowed by the result and susequent promotion to the SPL, after some off field antics by the Harry Wragg's was put to bed.

***Latest Team News***

Inverness captain Richie Foran is suspended for this game and top scorer Andrew Shinnie remains a major doubt with a calf injury. Ross Tokely could recover in time and will be thrust straight back into central defence as we are a bit threadbare in that department. Aaron Doran returned to action at Hibs following a serious shoulder injury and will be loking for more game time.

St Johnstone midfielder Chris Millar is struggling with a hamstring problem and Frazer Wright and Cillian Sheridan remain out, (must be that jumper) but midfielder David Robertson could be added to the squad after his concussion.

tm4tj Prediction:- We appear to be over the worst of our troubles and with the squad list getting healthier I expect us to be able to handle the Perth men on our own patch. They have been excellent on the road but I am going for a narrow win, maybe without that elusive clean sheet, but a win all the same and three points to get the new year off to a flyer.

Happy New Year from all at the editorial team.