More points up for grabs

First home game of the new season pairs Inverness against another of last seasons Championship sides, winners Dundee who opened their campaign with a flag unfurling and a point against Kilmarnock.

Dundee usually come forth in good numbers and will be a welcome addition to the Premiership bringing with them a swagger amongst their ranks that  is hard to ignore as they tell you that there's only one team in Tayside and us Teuchters should be put back where we belong, amongst the sheep and cattle and keeping it in the family etc etc etc.......

RossP has been weighing up the opposition and he has penned this excellent preview for us, so without further ado, read on.

My Maths teacher Mr Morrison regularly used the phrase “empty barrels make the most noise”; a comment that has come into my mind since the re-emergence of Dundee fans on the Premiership sub forum of Pie and Bovril. Unfortunately it seems many of these fans have learned very little from their spectacular collapse in the race with ICT for the first division title and their financial troubles in the seasons prior to that. It may be a minority of Dundee fans that embarrass their club online like this, but there is a definite feeling of optimism swelling through the more sensible members of the fan base thanks to Hartley’s new look team.

Hartley, who was unsuccessful in his interview(s) for the ICT job will be looking to release any feelings of rejection with three points on Wednesday night. A young, ambitious and hardworking manager who the majority of ICT fans (including myself) wanted at the helm following Terry Butcher’s departure to relegate Hibernian FC, Hartley cut his teeth in the lower leagues, gaining successive promotions over 3 seasons with Alloa and then Dundee. During this time he quickly gained a reputation for instilling professionalism into his teams where modern methods of preparation and recovery were adopted and embraced with part-time players. His teams were extremely hard to break down, with clean sheets and marginal wins being the regular outcome each weekend. I would anticipate a similar approach to this week’s fixture, where the onus will be on ICT to take advantage of the few chances that Dundee will look to limit us to.

Form
ICT come into this fixture with a comfortable and impressive victory away to Premiership newcomers Hamilton, using a starting eleven who all played at the club last season. This is a stark contrast to the Dundee team who drew 1-1 with Kilmarnock with a large contingent making only their first or second competitive appearance.

The new look Dundee side will feel aggrieved that they couldn’t match the expectations of the near 7,000+ home supporters on Saturday, after passing up several opportunities to get the three points that their possession and play deserved. Positive performances from new signings Tankulic, Harkins, Ferry and McGowan will be cheered by the fanbase, whilst some may remain sceptical about former Hibee James McPake, who conceded the foul that Killie scored from.

John Hughes has said in pre-season that he will mix his formation, playing style and players to suit the match they are playing and that could have been the reason behind leaving Watkins and Doran on the bench. Williams and Vincent filled the wide roles with both receiving positive reports from fans attending the match. Williams provided the shot to set up Christie’s goal and gives the team natural width on the left hand side, whilst Vincent broke the Hamilton play up operating as a narrow right midfielder. Whether both are in the starting eleven for the upcoming fixture remains to be seen, but both perhaps deserve to continue in these positions. Another player with a fight to cement a regular spot is Ryan Christie, who continued his rich vein of scoring as a starter and provided excellent foil for Mckay with intelligent runs and defence splitting passes. Not one ICT fan will want him dropped to the bench any time soon, but we will have to protect him at times during the season to avoid burnout. Shinnie also saw a welcome return to his natural position at left back and was immense by all accounts, both in defence and in his attacking runs.

Recent matches between ICT and Dundee have favoured the highland team, holding a seven match unbeaten run since the 3-2 Challenge Cup final defeat in 2009. There has been a dominance at home in particular with the five fixtures resulting in four wins and a draw. The most recent match was last season in the League Cup 3rd round, a 1-0 win with a trade mark Billy McKay close range finish. Such is the turnaround in Dundee’s personnel that only five of their match day squad from that fixture were in their squad for last weekend’s draw with Kilmarnock.

Player availability
John Hughes will be pleased to have all his players come through Saturday’s match unscathed, in addition to being provided a selection headache after the performances of Doran and Watkins from the bench. Team captain Foran remains unavailable following knee surgery and Devine is no closer to a comeback from injury in pre-season. Whilst the transfer window remains open, clubs will continue to enquire about players such as McKay and Shinnie. The club have made it clear though that it would only be an exceptional offer that would see anyone depart. Fans remain concerned about the lack of signing(s) coming in, especially in the forward area but Hughes looks likely to persist with the position flexibility approach that he adopted last season.

Inverness have also added ex Hibernian versatile midfielder Lewis Horner to the squad and he spoke to Iain Auld after the victory at Hamilton.

 

Paul Hartley will likely keep a very similar team to Saturday but could alter the formation to swell the midfield and combat ICT’s strongest department. There is a chance Hartley’s preferred goalkeeper Scott Bain could come back in to side following injury, but there is no chance former ICT player Phil Roberts will face his former employers due to a hilarious incident with a water cooler earning him a lengthy ban last season.

RossP prediction – This will be a low scoring game in which the cliché of the importance of getting the opening goal will be prevalent. Whoever goes 1-0 up will look to defend their lead and slow the match down. This will be an ugly game, but one that we should be looking to get three points from.

@RossP_ICT