Inverness looking to end Super J's super start to the season 

Off down the A9 to Perth this weekend as St Johnstone host Inverness CT in the next installment of SPL games after last weekends International break. (why do we bother)

The Super J's have made a storming start to the season amassing 15 points from their first 10 games and are riding high in fifth place on merit, the same points as fourth placed Hearts.  The downside of all this media attention is that manager Derek McInness has been touted as a possible replacement for Keith Millen, the fall guy at struggling championship side Bristol City.  McInnes has been in charge at Perth since Owen Coyle moved on and he has guided St Johnstone back into the SPL and to a couple of solid eighth place finishes in the league.

Part of the success story for Saints this season has been the new front pairing of former Celtic player Cilian Sheridan and ex-Arab, Fransisco Sandaza.  Sheridan is on loan from CSKA Sofia, the Bulgarian side and he has notched 3 goals in four games while Sandaza scored his 7th of the season at Kilmarnock.  He was released from Brighton last season and McInnes snapped up the Spaniard who had plenty SPL experience at Tannadice, scoring 11 times in 38 appearances.   

It is worth noting that Saints have taken 11 points on the road, and some of this can be attributed to the pace of these strikers, quick on the break and deadly at finishing.  Their home form shows only one win and two draws, which indicates a different style of play being deployed when away, which obviously suits their front two.

Wins at Parkhead, Motherwell and Kilmarnock have eased the Super J's into the top-six and they sit 7 points above basement team Inverness.  However, closer inspection will show that they put up the shutters at Parkhead and although they trounced Motherwell 0-3, they rode their luck somewhat at Rugby Park before winning 1-2.

Luck, a word that has been used liberally on the CTO forum last week as some folk believed we were fortunate to sneak past the other Saints up in Inverness.  Not so, for anyone who was at the game it was plain to see there was only going to be one winner, and the margin would have been enormous but for some poor finishing by Foran and Tade.  However, you have to be in it to win it and a great performance from Andrew Shinnie helped Inverness over the finishing line.  Foran and Tade also did their part, Foran delightfully nodding the ball into Shinnie's path for the opener and Tade being in the right place at the right time to bundle the ball off his knee into the empty net after Shinnie smacked the post for the second time in the match.  If you can't take Muhammad to the mountain, take the mountain to Muhammad.

International break last weekend saw Scotland prolong the agony, well for a few days anyway until Spain showed the enormous gulf in class between champs and chumps.  They really get in the way of proper football these International holidays.  However, as far as Inverness is concerned at the moment, the longer the better as players near the end of their long injury lay-offs.  It would be great to see Jonny Hayes, Cox, Tudur-Jones and Hogg pulling on a strip in the near future.  Things can only get better once a fully fit squad is ready to go.

So, Inverness on the move with some more encouraging displays and St Johnstone sitting pretty should make for an entertaining game, and fixtures between these two sides can be close, with often the one goal separating the sides.  That is apart from the last encounter of last season when Inverness ran out convincing winners in the televised match at McDiarmid Park.  Saints had started the game brightly but it was Inverness that provided the finishes to ease past St Johnstone, who were on a goal drought at the time.  3-0 was the final score as goals from Innes, Doran & Foran earned Inverness seven points out of a possible twelve against Saints.  Doran's goal in particular was a delight, a curling shot from outside the box as he ran at Maybury.  This avenged the defeat that ended Inverness' long unbeaten run at New Year when Collin Samuel came off the bench to nick the winner in a dour game that gave Saints only their fifth home goal all season, but one that took away the year long undefeated away tag from the visitors.  Another win at Perth for Inverness by 2-0 and a 1-1 draw completed last seasons fixtures between the clubs.

Since season 2002-2003 there has only been one draw, last season, and Inverness hold the upper hand in terms of wins, leading 7-5 in that respect.  That includes a Scottish Cup win at Dingwall, when the clubs played the tie at Victoria Park during our SPL season at Pittodrie.  Stuart Golabek heading home the deciding goal in that one at a very miserable, wet and windy midden of a park.  In this away fixture, St Johnstone are ahead four games to two, so not a particularly happy hunting ground for Butcher's boys, although last season we broke even with one win apiece.  We have scored seven times in Perth, with the home side scoring eight. 

The stats tell us there is very little between the sides and home advantage seems to be the deciding factor for most of the games, and with only a solitary draw in thirteen games it looks like the three points are up for grabs by the side that is hungrier for success.

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 Latest Team News

St Johnstone will have Frazer Wright and Murray Davidson both available for what could be Derek McInnes' last game in charge before being lured to Bristol City,  but Sam Parkin and Sean Higgins will miss out.

Inverness will be without Aidan Chippendale, he has a viral infection and will not be in the squad for tomorrows game. Jonny Hayes, Josh Meekings, Billy McKay, Kenny Gillet and Lee Cox all took part in a bounce game against St Mirren and came through that unscathed, but this game could be too soon for them after their lengthy injury lay-offs.  Cox, McKay and Shane Sutherland all scored in that kick about which ended 3-3.  Tudur-Jones, Doran and Hogg are further behind in terms of recovery and will not be included.  Hogg is recovering after minor surgery to his knee .  So, it looks as though Butcher's injury problems are starting to ease and that can only be good news for the Inverness boss who will soon have the headache of deciding who to leave out of the squad, decisions decisions. 

The unknown quantity could manifest itself in the shape of Billy McKay.  He scored in the bounce game and needs game-time to get up to speed after a succession of knocks has curtailed his appearances, maybe an alternative to our industrious pairing up front that could provide the finishing touches to the plethora of chances that come our way. 

Andrew Shinnie, the deserved MotM last time out, is relishing his role as an attacking midfielder and showed the way against St Mirren with the opening goal and striking the post in the lead up to Tade's winner, boss Butcher reckoning that he is the most gifted finisher in our squad.  It's all about the players gaining confidence after a stuttering start to the season and the last few games have shown us that we are not too far off the mark.

tm4tj Prediction is getting more difficult as players start to return from injury, although some of the aforementioned casualties are maybe not ready for the rigours of the SPL yet.  Butcher has not yet ruled anyone out from making the bench and the most likely returnees would be Cox and Hayes, both badly missed in our early games.  One thing that could decide the outcome of this game is the strike pairing of Richie Foran and Gregory Tade.  Both getting in the right positions, but unfortunately both showing remarkable profligacy in front of goal.  Should that change, then someone will be on the wrong end of a drubbing one day.  I fear that this may not be that day yet, and Sheridan and Sandaza are not so generous in the box and have been scoring freely recently.  This one could come down to which defence copes best and for that reason I am going to sit on the fence, a scoring draw, possibly 2-2.