Bring back Bobby, even though he is 12 stone too old!

Inverness travel to the scene of their finest ninety minutes of this season when they visit Rugby Park to take on the team that cheered most of Scotland, deserved League Cup winners Kilmarnock. Looking for a repeat of the previous visit will maybe be a tad optimistic, but there are still positions to be played for before the season ends and Killie have often been good to us in terms of donating points.

Gavin Morrison is off to Iceland, and that's not just for his frozen food shopping, he is on loan until August, when our season starts again and the experience will do his prospects no harm at all. Gavin has not featured much this season with injuries and loanees curtailing his appearances so this will be an ideal opportunity to get off and running before the new season starts.

The lack of home based players has been a hot topic this week as the Inverness branch of the Foreign Legion took to the field against Aberdeen. Not one Scot in the starting eleven. Some of that was down to Injury (Ryan Esson) the rest was down to suspension as Ross Tokely and Graeme Shinnie missed out. Ryan and Graeme are Scottish and Rossco is superman and he is from the planet Krypton. I fully expect the outfield players to be re-instated along with Greg Tansey the third suspended player, but Esson may have to bide his time after his groin injury.

There were plenty talented players on display last weekend at Inverness, unfortunately for the fans, none of them showed up on the Saturday for the game against Aberdeen where own goal specialist Roman Golobart scored his third OG of the season and not to be outdone, Kenny Gillet did likewise. Doh! Quality was at a premium in this game and Inverness ran out of ideas pretty quickly before the inevitable happened. Anyone looking for a new contract better think again, for the effort and passion were sadly missing.

Least said the better, however the fans that turned up on the Sunday for Grant & Russells testimonial witnessed something rarely seen at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium. (40 stone) Bobby Mann sprayed 40 yard passes as if they were going out of fashion, Charlie Christie put his foot on the ball in midfield and the little general controlled the play as he owned Derek Adams, and Jimmy Calder pleased both sets of fans as he dribbled his way out of trouble half a dozen times. Nothing changes there. Special mention for Rossco who zipped up and down the wing like Usain Bolt as he scored two goals. All in all it was a great day for Grant Munro and Russell Duncan as Inverness strolled to a 4-0 victory over Ross County, a sign of things to come perchance?

But, there's no point in me rambling on when Capital Caley has been on the happy pills and has this excellent preview ready for your tastebuds.

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Remember remember the 5^th of November!

This season has been full of doom and gloom, disappointment and failures. There have been few moments to cheer about, but remember remember the 5^th of November. Nearly 6 months have passed since the 9 goal thriller at Rugby Park. Caley Thistle scored 6 spectacular goals that day courtesy of Jonny Hayes, an Andrew Shinnie hat trick, and a Gregory Tade double. Since that game, Kilmarnock have gone on to win the Scottish Criminals Spare Change Cup. Killie saw off domestic treble winners Celtic. That doesn’t sound right. Domestic double winners Celtic. No, still something wrong. Domestic single winners Celtic. That’s more like it. Nothing personal, Neil! However, Killie have struggled in the league and have suffered heavy defeats, even to relegation threatened Dunfermline for Fawkes Sake!

Kenny Shiels appears to play a Steve Paterson all out attack style of play, which provides goals at either end of the park. The problem with this is, that there may be 3-2 and 4-3 victories, but there’s also 6-0 and 6-3 defeats! Kilmarnock have been so inconsistent in the 12 months since Kenny Shiels took over, that they have not won a football match out with Kilmarnock, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Most Caley Thistle fans would be happy with a little bit of inconsistency this season. The 2011/2012 campaign has been consistently garbage for the Caley Jags. But, remember remember the 5^th of November.

With Caley Thistle fans worrying what the future season brings and many fearing the drop, I hope the team can show their worth and score at least another 6 goals on Saturday. However, the chances of that happening are slim. Ending the season on a winning run would help ease the fears for next season. Another defeat on Saturday will only increase fears that Caley Thistle will be in a relegation scrap with FC Paisley Road West next season. Of course, there is still the unthinkable but mathematically possible scenario that Caley Thistle will be in a relegation scrap with Cowdenbeath next season.

Last weeks 2-0 defeat at home to Aberdeen typified a poor season. There were some raised eyebrows amongst the Caley Thistle support and the press about the lack of Scots in the starting XI. A team full of foreigners is something we are not used to at the Caledonian Stadium. Hopefully, starting with this game some of the younger players can feature. After all, the more experienced players have struggled all season. It will be a much changed starting XI from Caley Thistles 6-3 victory on Bonfire Night. With Ryan Esson injured, David Davis back at Championship bound Wolves (and a new contract to boot), Andrew Shinnie injured and the back line being changed so often, Killie won’t be playing against the same team. Billy McKay was on the bench that day and had still not broken into the starting XI. Even Aidan Chippendale featured as a late substitute.

Caley Thistle have been boosted by Aaran Doran's return to fitness in the last couple of weeks. Where we have influential players such as Andrew Shinnie sidelined by injury, Doran can step in and create that spark that we have been missing. If the starting XI play to their best potential (and importantly in their favoured positions) on Saturday then there is potential for our ‘foreign’ team to turn on the samba style again (Yes I know, happy clapping to the max there!!!) But having Hayes sprinting down the right wing, Doran attacking on the left and Tade running the Killie defence breathless alongside McKay, then we have a strong attacking team. It is almost impossible to guess Terry and Mo’s starting XI as it changes so often, but there are players available for Saturday that can and have turned on the style before.

One player Caley Thistle won’t be calling on however is Bobby Mann Gavin Morrison. Gavin flew out to Iceland on Wednesday to start a 4 month loan spell with Grindavik. The training facilities and match experience will hopefully help Gavin push into the starting XI next season. Another player who achieved more important experience this week is Graeme Shinnie, who will likely feature against Killie. Graeme came off the bench in Scotlands U21’s 4-1 defeat to Italy.

Of course Terry Butcher won’t be underestimating Kilmarnock who have some excellent players such as Paul Heffernan and SPL player of the year candidate Dean Shiels. This duo have the potential to cause the Caley Thistle defence problems.

I don’t expect a large crowd from Sneck to descend on Rugby Park on Saturday. However, for the small group that do make it to the game, we will be willing and hoping, maybe even praying for a victory. Mathematical safety and pride are at stake on Saturday.

CapitalCaley’s prediction:-

I’d like to predict another hammering of Killie, and another ‘Jimmy says aye to a Killie Pie’ conga. As I write this, William Hill will give odds of 550/1 on a repeat 6-3 victory for Caley Thistle!!! A Kilmarnock victory is at 6/5, Inverness victory at 12/5 and a draw at 11/5. Nothing too exciting there unless you decide to back the 550/1 score line of course.

However, I believe that after more defensive mistakes last week, the team will be extra careful at the back. Kenny Shiels won’t want a repeat of the last time Caley Thistle played at Rugby Park and again he will be cautious. So, at 8/1 from William Hill, if you stick on a line for a 1-0 Caley Thistle victory, you can buy me a pint(s). Kilmarnock 0-1 Caley Thistle. Remember remember the 5^th of November. Lets hope that after this Saturday, the 28^th April will be a memorable date for Caley Thistle supporters.

***Latest Team News***

Inverness have Tokely, Tansey, and u21 star Shinnie all back after suspension, but Esson may not be risked yet and Gavin Morrison is off on loan. The unfortunate David Proctor injured a hamstring in the testimonial and misses out.

Kilmarnock news to follow......

Great preview Capital Caley, I hope you are right, see you in Fannies.