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  • tm4tj
    tm4tj

    Inverness CT -V- St Mirren - SPFL

      Teaser Paragraph:

    Buddy Hell



    A great start to the New Year for Inverness with the derby win and hot on the heels of that is the visit of County's relegation threatened contenders, St Mirren.

    St Mirren's form guide makes for distressing reading. Only one win in their last ten league games and that was a couple of weeks ago at Dens Park. That's a hell of a run. The result of this is plain to see as they languish one point above an equally poor Ross County, and along with Motherwell, these three teams look set to battle for the relegation spot this season unless a drastic turnaround after the transfer window occurs. The Buddies have only won three league games this term and sit second bottom on 11 points with Inverness doing somewhat better on 35 points after 11 wins. Our record was tarnished in recent games with three defeats on the spin until the derby game saw us trounce County 3-1 in Dingwall.

    The recent cup pairing saw us take the game to a replay after a 1-1 draw in Paisley thanks to a second half equaliser from defender Josh Meekings after Marc McAusland had opened the scoring in the first half. It was a different story in the replay as Inverness swept St Mirren aside and the 4-0 scoreline flattered the visitors. Warren, Tansey, Williams and Shinnie scored that night but it could easily have been doubled as Inverness swamped the Buddies.

    We have seen off a few St Mirren gaffers in our time, and soon after this crushing defeat the hapless Tommy Craig was removed from office. Gary Teale has been in temporary charge since then and three games later they won their first game in eleven attempts beating Dundee 3-1. Kenny McLean scored a brace and Stevie Mallan added the other. Teale has secured McLean's eligibility to play in this game, and that's a bonus for them as he is their talismanic goal threat and would be a big miss if excluded.

    It's no coincidence that the same man that gifted Brian Graham the penalty for St Johnstone was the man involved with McLean's 'red' card. Yes, the incompetent Willie Collum, but thankfully he will not be at Inverness on Sunday. It's high time the authorities punished the inadequacies in our refereeing system. Bring back the men from Luxembourg, a breath of fresh air that was! Bobby Madden is the man in charge on Sunday. Oh well!

    However, a word of caution for Inverness. The only thing that is predictable about these games is that they are unpredictable. Go back to 13th December and another side from the West came North and embarrassed us in a 4-0 hammering. Partick have the knack of getting under our skin and irritating the hell out of us and that setback seemed to knock our confidence for a game or two. We have also been turned over by a lowly St Mirren side before around this time of year, Boxing Day 2010 springs to mind when they came North expecting nothing and went home with a 2-1 win under their belt. It had all looked rosy as Lee Cox scored early, but a double from Steven Thompson clinched a deserved win for the Paisley side. So, beware the underdog.

    Ross Draper has served his two game ban and will be included in the squad for the visit of St Mirren. Mind you, he is not guaranteed a starting slot given the excellent team performance at Dingwall on New Years day. Richie Foran, as is the norm these days is still out.

    On the red card theme Kenny McLean will be available as his club are appealing the punishment he was given by the aforementioned Willie Collum; another fine mess Willie! McLean was dismissed during the 2-1 defeat at home to Kilmarnock when he appeared to move his head towards Ross Barbour. And to complete the theme, striker Steven Thompson is also available after completing a ban.

    Marc McAusland could feature, despite receiving seven stitches when he suffered a head wound against Killie, but Ellis Plummer, has returned to Manchester City after bringing his one-year loan switch to an early conclusion. He had been out since September with a groin injury.

    tm4tj prediction:- You can't argue with the statistics that point to a win for Inverness but St Mirren are now in a dog fight at the bottom, and every dog has it's day. The cup result was overwhelmingly in our favour. I doubt the same will happen in the scrap for League points. Kenny McLean is the main goal threat along with Steven Thompson, but as long as we have our defensive caps on, then I won't be arguing with the stats. Home win, maybe 2-1.

     

    So, there you go, an Inverness v St Mirren preview without Ross Tokely being mentioned.......................................Oh damn, spoiled it, my bad.
     




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