Pleasure or Pressure?



Dundee United are the visitors on Saturday as the season heads towards a climax where games still have a bearing on the final rewards of an enthralling campaign.

Only two games left and Inverness are still in the hunt for that coveted third place in the SPL which will be rewarded with European football, something alien for Inverness, but much sought after at the end of a tremendous season. Richie Foran has hinted that it's not pressure that they are enduring, but pleasure and playing with a smile on your face helps. Aye right!

With St Johnstone kicking off earlier at 12:15, the Caley Jags task might become clearer by kick off time at 15:00. Should Celtic defeat St Johnstone an Inverness win will guarantee European football before the final games next week. However, it's all ifs and buts and Butcher will take it one game at a time. It could of course still go pear shaped, such is the complexity of the situation.

Games against Dundee United have seen plenty of goals this season, apart from the last one which drew a blank. Twelve goals between them with Inverness scoring eight. The first game in the Highlands saw Inverness run out comfortable 4-0 winners, Richie Foran scoring a brace with Andy Shinnie and Phillip Roberts completing the rout. The reverse game at Tannadice was a cracker. United racing into a three goal lead inside eight minutes before Inverness incredibly went ahead only for United to earn a point with a last gasp Daly penalty. Billy McKay scored a hat-trick that day and Gary Warren scored the other.

Recent form shows that United have lost three consecutive games since their Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Celtic at Hampden Park. We have fared little better, losing two of our three post-split matches, but last weeks thrilling victory over Motherwell fairly put a smile on the fans faces. If Richie is feeling no pressure, he should try sitting in the North Stand, heart stopping stuff.



***Latest Team News***

Inverness will have Richie Foran available before his ban kicks in next week against Ross County, and David Raven returns from suspension to bolster the squad in what will be another crucial game in the race for Europe. Chris Hogg made a fantastic return last week and it will be interesting to see if Butcher goes with his experience or the youthful Danny Devine in defence. Warren, Esson and King are still out.

Dundee United will be without the suspended Barry Douglas after they failed to overturn the red card decision and injuries will rule out Keith Watson, Sean Dillon and Gavin Gunning.



tm4tj prediction:- It's getting too tense to call. I couldn't go through many more ninety minutes like that last week and I will just shut my eyes and hope for the best. United will have players playing to impress new boss Jackie McNamara and on their day they are a stern test for the best of them, let's hope we are just as fired up as we were for our last game and another blistering start will set our over active minds at rest. Any kind of win would be lovely and I'll be chuffed with a 2-1 victory and three points in the bag. :ictscarf: