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Aaron Doran looks likely to have pulled on the Caley Jags strip for the last time after limping off against Raith Rovers last Friday. Sean McAllister returning was a bonus though but the mystery deepens as to why Roddy MacGregor, Austin Samuels and Nikola Ujdur are not featuring either on the injury list or the team list. Baffling to be honest as Roddy has the midfield attributes required, Austin has the speed and potential and Nikola in my opinion, if fit, would be my first choice on the team sheet. Are these guys on the way out? Add to that seven or eight loan players, then next season will see a massive restructure and rebuild at the Caledonian Stadium. I imagine the board members are squirming in their seats like Angela van den Bogerd at a Post Office inquiry.

Inverness threatened the Raith goal and but for Kevin Dabrowski and his bar they could have been dead and buried at the interval. No score at the break and all to play for in the second half. Vaughan opened the scoring early in the second half and Samuel almost levelled but his shot from distance cannoned away off the post. The crossbar was hit a further twice but the goal would not come. Despite peppering the Raith goal, MotM Dabrowski would not be beaten with a string of saves ranging from brilliant to miraculous.

The great escape coninues on Friday night at the Caledonian Stadium as we host Raith Rovers in a game that will also be screened live on BBC Scotland with Raith trying to cling on to the coat tails of Dundee United and the Caley Jags looking to slither away from the play-off zone. What could possibly go wrong? Savage and Carragher will be joined in the squad by a welcome returnee in Sean McAllister who has returned fit from Everton after about six weeks out. That's a nice wee bonus for Big Dunc. However, he has the wrath from Arbroath after his "tools down" comment in his pre-match interview. As long as he has not got the wrath from Raith. Keep the faith!

Massive: Just under 1500 fans rattled around inside the national stadium for the proverbial six-pointer at the bottom of the table with Inverness looking to get out of the play-off place and Queens one point ahead at the start of the game. In a tense first half Cammy Harper scored a stunning free kick after Cillian Sheridan had handled 25 yards out. Boom! That's how it ended despite QP upping their game in the second period as Inverness kept them at bay.

Hampden Calling: Carragher is now a doubt after feeling his hamstring. Other than that not much has changed apart from Remi Savage, who has not recovered after he got a boot in the face from Cammy Kerr. Apparently Kerr's boot is OK but Savage is suffering from minor concussion and will miss the next couple of games. Maybe that was Kerr ensuring he gets a game this weekend.

Smokies Kippered: On a blustery day more akin to AA Milne and Winnie the Pooh, Arbroath and Inverness battled it out to see who would get the final nails hammered into their coffins. Arbroath were in the last chance snug in the last chance saloon, whilst Inverness have one foot in the grave. I don't believe it! Arbroath tried everything, they even took their own wind with them. However, they had Murray, Bird and Slater on from the start but O'Brien missed out. Zak Delaney also started for the Red Lichties. A bright opening spell saw Alex Samuel denied twice inside five minutes. Once by a combination of Max Boruc and his crossbar, the second by Boruc on his own as Samuel got his shot away from inside the box. Wallace Duffy got the goal we deserved on the interval as he drove across the keeper from the right side of the box to put us in ahead at the break. Leighton McIntosh restored parity on the hour as he drilled home from eighteen yards, but Alex Samuel won the points with a late strike to all but relegate ten man Arbroath who had Ricky Little sent off.

It's Now or Never: That's what Elvis used to say. We are in deep trouble up to our necks with no signs that we can turn this around. Defeat to Arbroath could be the final nail in our coffin with only fifteen points available to us ahead of this game. The play-offs are looking more likely by the minute, but it's not beyond the realms of possibilty that automatic relegation is still an option should Arbroath beat us on Saturday. With the long suffering fans rapidly losing faith in Big Dunc, it's crunch time as Arbroath head North to the venue they won at the last time they were here. Sadly they come to the Caledonian Stadium off the back of a 2-1 midweek defeat to Airdrie, and we could all but relegate them on Saturday with a win. However, that's nothing to gloat about as we could be next...

Big Trouble Down the Dump: Billy Mckay was back in the starting XI along with Samson Lawal with Pepple dropping to the bench and Shaw out for the season. Both teams had seven on the bench with Roddy MacGregor getting a rare seat. Scott Robinson scored the only goal of the game just before the break. Inverness were reduced to ten men when Cammy Kerr was sent off just after an hour. Despite creating more opportunities, the points just evaded us.

Meh!

Hopes amongst the Caley Jags support were at rock bottom ahead of this one with the threat of relegation looming large. With all hands to the pumps, Shaw, Boyes and Ujdur were brought back into the squad whilst not really 100% fit. Shaw started as did Pepple and Boyes with Billy Mckay, Lawal and Danny Devine dropping to the bench. Cammy Harper was given the Captain's armband today. It's a daunting task going to the lions den to face title favourites but underdog is our preferred tag. Anyway, 252 of them turned up at Tannadice in eternal hope and Duffy heightened the intensity only for Louis Moult to level things up. That's how it ended, a result we would have bitten your hand off before kick off.

Having sat through one of the worst games for many a year there is little to hope for now apart from Arbroath to keep losing because we certainly appear to find it difficult to win. We have no game changers in our squad and our manager is playing the wrong type of anti-football to help our cause. Big Dunc thought we were the better team. Pleeeeeaaase, give me a break! We were second to everything and Ayr were always one step ahead of us after the first three minutes. SHOCKER springs to mind.

These two sides looked as though they could play for the whole of March without scoring. In terms of opportunities, the hosts probably shaded it, but when we did miss the first defender, crosses invariably went behind the incoming strikers. On the one occasion we got on the end of the ball Billy Mckay's flicked header was cleared away from goal by Kanayo Megwa.
Not the worst 0-0 draw ever, but scoring opportunities were at a premium. Neither keeper was overly troubled and this game had scoreless written all over it given the evidence of the first twenty minutes.

Promoted Airdrie are sitting in fifth place in the table, just below the play-off places with former Caley Jag Nikolay Todorov getting amongst the goals and he will provide a big test for our central defence. We have found Airdrie a difficult proposition at times this season but we did win the last home encounter against them.

What a start for Inverness and Billy Mckay, who answered his abusers from last week by opening the scoring in the second minute, firing into the top corner after an assist from Cammy Harper. Robbie Muirhead looked to respond but Mark Ridgers was equal to his effort in the fifth minute. Ten minutes before the interval Sean McAllister curled in a low free kick from the edge of the box to double our advantage and open his scoring account at Inverness. Plenty of bookings but no further scoring saw Inverness pick up a vital three points in the relegation battle although we still remain in ninth spot but only two points from Dunfermline in fifth.

Morton host Inverness on Saturday at 3:00pm. They are unbeaten over ninety minutes in their last 17 outings, including a 5-0 pumping of the Pars, a 3-2 win at Tannadice and they also knocked Motherwell out of the Scottish Cup. It wasn't that long ago Morton were below us in the table and now they are in contention for a play-off place at the top end of the table. Us, on the other hand, have slumped to ninth in the table with a distinct possibility of making a play-off place as well. Unfortunately, that's at the relegation end of the table.

A hugely depleted Inverness squad were cobbled together to face Dunfermline Athletic in a crucial wrong end of the table clash tonight. We had the possibility of jumping up to fifth had results all gone our way tonight as long as we did our job on the park. A long shot given our home form this season, but nonetheless still a possibility. That never aged well. The table is crying out for a team to go on a good run and challenge those that have had it too easy so far this season. Chris Kane missed out for the visitors which was a bonus for us. Alex Samuel, Billy Mckay and Wallace Duffy all started for Inverness which left us with no midfielders or defenders on the bench. 

Apart from the top three teams, every point gained is crucial in the Championship, especially at the end of the table we find ourselves rooted to. Like us, Dunfermline hit a sticky patch but look to be over the worst and came away from Firhill with all three points on Friday night after nine winless games. We salvaged a draw in stoppage time at Arbroath. No rest for the wicked though, so it's back to action against our fellow strugglers on Tuesday night at 7:45pm. Ferguson has wholesale injuries to contend with for this one. It might be quicker to say who is fit. What could possibly go wrong!

Gayfield is a difficult enough place to go to with a full squad, therefore Duncan Ferguson had his work cut out today with a number of players unavailable including the suspended Max Anderson and a depleted bench of four outfield players. However Alex Samuel returned to the starting XI with Billy Mckay dropping to the bench. Arbroath were without Tam O'Brien but top strikers Michael McKenna and Leighton McIntosh were on the bench with new loan signing Charlie Reilly and defender Ricky Little. Plenty of half chances but not enough on target to overly trouble the keepers at the interval with Boruc the busier goalie. Inside the last ten minutes and MacKinnon scored from close range after a corner. It looked like time was running out but Cammy Harper drilled in an equaliser for a deserved share of the points.

We head to Arbroath on Saturday, the scene of Big Dunc's first game in charge of the Caley Jags, where we earned our first win of the season in our seventh Championship game and his tenure at the Caley Jags began with only one point on the board prior to this game. We now sit on twenty-five points, but still perilously close to the relegation zone, unable to put a consistent run together to climb the table like others have done (Morton the prime example). Max Anderson is suspened and something like five definite outs and another five struggling with knocks.  Nothing new there then! 

Cammy Kerr opened the scoring half an hour in to open his own account at Inverness, a welcome goal for the home fans, albeit at the South Stand end of the stadium. Be patient I hear you say and we were rewarded with a North Stand goal from Remi Savage ten minutes after the interval. Another ten minutes later and Fitzpatrick shot in from twelve yards to throw Partick a lifeline. Brian Graham converted a penalty but Nathan Shaw restored our advantage two minutes later. Unfortunately, the man we love to hate, Brian Graham, slammed in a volley after some head tennis to end the scoring and Max Anderson saw red in time added on. Meh, some game but a disappointing outcome despite the goals at the home end.

Home team is normally the best indicator in these fixtures. We suffered a couple of heavy away defeats a year or two ago but other than that most of these fixtures have been close affairs and usually favour the home side. Both games this season ended all square, although it's fair to say that Inverness shaded the play but our lack of penetration in the final third is a continuing problem.

Scottish Cup. Itr's not for everyone: Having matched Hibs for almost an hour a massive deflection enabled Maolida to open the scoring. Slack defensive play set Martin Boyle on his way to double Hibs advantage before a late goal set up by Boyle saw Youan tap in. Game over but Aaron Doran notched an injury time consolation for Inverness.

Hibs have won the Scottish Cup three times, the last one being the year after Inverness beat Falkirk 2-1 to lift the trophy in 2015, Hibs first win came in 1887 when they beat Dumbarton 2-1 followed by 1-0 victory over Celtic in 1902. Hibs have been runners-up 10 times with Inverness losing out once.
We will need to wait for Duncan Ferguson to announce his plans. We barely know half the squad; not sure if Duncan does either since the transfer window shut. A major worry is on loan striker Alex Samuel who has broken his hand and faces the possibility of being out for a few weeks. Doctors are looking to see if he can get away with a lighter cast, but that's in the balance right now. Luis Longstaff is out after twisting a knee in training. 

Grim Stuff: No goals in a turgid first half but plenty of possession without working the keeper too hard. Dom Thomas opened the scoring just after the interval and that's how it ended. We have signed plenty of players, but we don't have a team yet. The only consolation is we actually went up a place in the table as Morton hammered Dunfermline 5-0 at EEP. However, both Dunfermline and Queens Park have games in hand over us and play each other next weekend.

January sales have brought new faces in and old faces out. The latest ins being Aribusitamunoipirim Emmanuel Pepple (easy for you to say) & Sean McAllister and the latest outs being David Carson, Jake Davidson and Robbie Thompson. Queens Park have added Danny Wilson, not the band but the former Liverpool, Hearts and Rangers defender to their squad.

Hat-Trix Alex: All that defenders and we still lose a headed goal from a corner as Jack Hamilton opened the scoring. Alex Samuel levelled five minutes later on the half hour and another five minutes later he put the visitors ahead. Alex completed his hat-trick in nine minutes to put Inverness in the driving seat at the Interval. Lewis Vaughan pulled one back early in the second half but Inverness held on for all three points.