After the contrasting fortunes at the weekend, Inverness travel to fairytale land to take on shock League Cup finalists St Mirren on Wednesday night for a 19:45 kick off. Not even Wilsongate could help us follow them to Hampden.

Inverness will need to pick themselves up pretty sharply after the favourites hoodoo struck on Saturday when they were dumped out of the League Cup by ten man Hearts who will now contest the final with surprise, but welcome finalists St Mirren, who ousted Celtic.

It wasn't all doom and gloom for Inverness though as all three Spl games ended in draws so nobody made any inroads to our league position.

But it's onwards and upwards for us now and back to SPL business, and this encounter could go a long way to restoring our belief that this season could see us reap some rewards.  Judging by the way St Mirren performed up here on Boxing Day then we could be in for a hard time, the Buddies taking the game to us and striking the woodwork on three occasions as we clawed back their advantage twice to draw 2-2. The first game this campaign saw Inverness being pegged back by a late leveller to earn a draw in Paisley by the same score.

Inverness have added some new faces in their pursuit of a top four finish. We have signed 19 year old Queens Park Rangers midfielder Jordan Gibbons on loan until the end of the season. Earlier, we moved to land another nineteen year old player in full back Charlie Taylor, who is on loan from Leeds United for the rest of the season.  These two were additions to the squad after the signing of twenty year old Daniel Devine at the beginning of January.  Danny is a central defender, an area we were a bit threadbare in with Chris Hogg and Simon King still not fit.

Midfielder Gavin Morrison is off to Elgin on loan for the rest of the season.  Morrison has found it difficult to break into the squad with the engine room performing well recently, but he should have little problem getting a game at Elgin.  Good luck to Gavin at Elgin.
 

St Mirren have unearthed a real gem with the signing of striker Esmael Goncalves on loan from Portuguese club Rio Ave until the end of the season. The young striker played an integral role in their cup win over Celtic and looks like a handful for any defence, certainly one to watch.
Steven Thompson is another one to keep an eye on.  The big striker has always had an eye for goal and he is on a rich vein of form just now, scoring important goals for the Buddies.  Paul McGowan, has added some much needed pace and quality to the Buddies midfield and they will make life difficult for teams, and we should now see them ease away from the bottom of the table.

***Latest Team News***
 
Defenders Chris Hogg and Simon King are back training but won't be considered, although all three new signings could break into the squad after the strength sapping encounter at Easter Road.  Daniel Devine, Charlie Taylor and Jordan Gibbons will all be looking for at least a place on the bench, and Terry Butcher might feel the time is right to freshen the squad after the physical and mentally challenging league cup semi-final last Saturday.

St Mirren midfielder Kenny McLean has recovered from minor knee surgery and will be included in the squad.  Long-term absentees Darren McGregor and Thomas Reilly miss out.

tm4tj Prediction:- This could be a season defining week for Inverness.  Already dumped out of one cup, we face this difficult task at Paisley before trying our luck in the Scottish Cup at Kilmarnock at the weekend.  No time to dwell on what could have been, and maybe that's a good thing.  The Buddies can be a bit Jekyll and Hyde, getting crushed 4-1 at home by County, but beating Celtic with something to spare last weekend.  They are actually on a decent run of form in the SPL, last weeks reverse apart, only two defeats in their last nine games, which belies their lowly position.  Given their performance against us last time out, and the boost of beating Celtic in their last match, then I think we will do well to settle for a share of the points.  How about a scoring draw, another 2-2 with Billy McKay putting his nightmare hesitation behind him to get back on the goal trail.

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