Ayr we go again

Unfortunately it's another home game this Saturday as fellow languishers Ayr United make the long trek North to face home strugglers Inverness Caledonian Thistle. Ayr are one of only two teams we have beaten at home in the Championship this season. However, in the presence of one of our highest profile managers ever, it would be rude not to think about the possibility of a seven goal barrage. Terry Butcher is in the area doing a gig with Richard Gough and will pop along to the stadium for a look at the current side. It has to be said that they are not a patch on what Tel Boy built before being lured to Leith for a custard cream, a team we beat 2-0 in our next match. However, that is history and the mess we find ourselves in now is a sad indictment of the times we live in now under the present regime.

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Match/Ticket Info

Battery Farm - Rejected

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We have always had the edge over Ayr United and the H2H shows that. Even recent form has us on top, and that is not always the same for all of our recent opponents. Only three defeats at home. Our prime objective this weekend is a win and would be a bonus but avoiding defeat is an absolute priority. Maybe even scoring a goal might ease the pain...

3 - 1 (A)

3 - 1 (H)

0 - 1 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

2 - 1 (A)

2 - 2 (H)

1 - 0 (A)

2 - 2 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

2 - 2 (A)

Inverness ease away from the bottom:  3 - 1  Inverness added Sean Welsh to the ever expanding longer term injury list suffering from a recurring back injury, but Luis Longstaff was fit enough to make the bench. Ayr United had Logan Chalmers, Jamie Murphy and Anton Dowds as a triple threat up front. Despite this, Inverness cruised home without having to get out of second gear. Three goals inside the last ten minutes of the first half ended the game as a contest. Two from David Wotherspoon and a penalty from Billy Mckay. Ayr got a consolation penalty in a poor second half, but it was an important three points for the Caley Jags and Big Dunc. As comfortable as it was it was still a poor second half where we should have gone on to put Ayr to the sword. As it was, the result was huge in the context of our season and we can overlook the turgid performance in the light of three excellent points and a step up the table to eighth place with games in hand over some teams. FULL TIME: 3-1. Interesting to note that we only had five of the team that started against Ayr back on November 11th available for selection last week with Carson & Wotherspoon away and the rest injured.

Still here: Mark Ridgers, Cameron Harper, Danny Devine, Max Anderson, Billy Mckay (subs C Mackay, Wallace Duffy)
Gone/Unavailable: Morgan Boyes, Nikola Ujdur, David Wotherspoon, David Carson, Charlie Gilmour, Nathan Shaw (subs Delaney, Thompson, Hyde, Sheridan, Longstaff, Lodovica, Brooks)

Last Time Out

Inverness failed again at home last Saturday against one of the two teams they had already beaten at home this season. The other being this weeks opponent Ayr United. The Airdrie game ended scoreless, and that was no surprise to those at the stadium. Plenty of effort, plenty of passes, however our Achiles Heel of creating and scoring chances has haunted us for most of the season. Last Five: D D D W D 

Ayr United were idle last weekend. Their last game was a 2-0 defeat at East End Park on 2ndMarch. Two goals just before the interval by Chris Hamilton and a first for loan signing Chris Kane was the difference between the sides.Scott Brown's best result was a stunning 4-3 win over Partick Thistle (McAllister, Willoughbyx2 and McHugh were the scorers in a see-saw game). However, Ayr have shipped a massive fifty goals in the League and that's something that we need to capitalise on. They have also scored thirty-eight times, so it's important to keep our fourth clean sheet in a row to give us a platform to build on. Last Five: L W L W L 

Table ahead of Friday nights big game

SATURDAY 16TH MARCH

1.    Airdrie v Arbroath
2. Inverness CT v Ayr United   
3.   Partick v Morton
4. Queen's v Rovers 

Latest Team News

Inverness: Still have massive injury worries ahead of this one with most on the bench still nursing knocks.

Long term: Gilmour, Longstaff, Chilokoa-Mullen, Big Harry & Lewis Nicolson.

Out: McAllister (4-6 weeks), Macgregor, Shaw, Ujdur (2 weeks).

Struggling: Carragher, Boyes... Have I missed any

Ayr United: One glaring alteration at Ayr United since they were last here is their manager. Former Hibs and Celtic midfielder Scott Brown is now in charge after Lee Bullen was relieved of his duties on the 15th of January a few days after we had beaten the honest men 3-1 at Somerset Park. He was replaced by Brown some ten days later. Brown has 3 wins to his credit since then from seven games ( QP, Airdrie, Partick), losing to Dundee United, Rangers (cup), Raith Rovers and last time out at Dunfermline.

Ayr's January sales deals.

In: Nathan McGinley, defender (Motherwell)

Loan in: Jack Sanders, defender (Kilmarnock); Josh Clarke, goalkeeper (Celtic); Harry McHugh, midfielder (Wigan Athletic); Kurt Willoughby, forward (Oldham Athletic).

Logan Chalmers was a big threat last time we met and with players like Murphy and McGeady on their books plenty of experience at a higher level. On loan forward Kurt Willoughby looks handy.

Good to see that bullying in the workplace is alive and kicking in the Highland Council.

A heated exchange took place in a Highland Council meeting today.

During the debate of Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club’s application for a battery storage facility Councillor Duncan Macpherson was told that he would perhaps be thrown out of the chamber by Highland… pic.twitter.com/l9jCcrzj78

— Inverness Courier (@InvCourier) March 14, 2024