El Kessocko


Forget Real Madrid and Barcelona, Ronaldo or Messi, it's down to the nitty gritty now as Inverness travel to Dingwall for the re-arranged game at the Global Energy Stadium, delayed since New Year when we were supposed to first foot the gudgies. It's been affectionately christened El Kessocko, the Highland Derby, where Shinniesta will take on Sproule in the battle for Highland Domination.

At that time, we were on a roll and County were struggling somewhat.  We had just had our first blank score sheet of the season and we were second top of the SPL with 34 points.  Look further down the table, in fact, go right down to eleventh place and there you can see Ross County, languishing in second bottom spot with only Dundee below them and an astonishing 13 points behind Inverness.  But hold on.  take a glance at the table now and you can see that Inverness have stuttered their way into third place and lo and behold, right behind us are County, with only one point separating the sides.  The Staggies have been on a remarkable run of late winning seven of their last nine games and drawing the other two.  The last club to beat them were Celtic ten games ago but they have garnered 23 points out of a possible 27 to spectacularly sprint up the league, and God forbid, should they win on Saturday they will climb above us.  Surely not I hear you gasp, but they are the team with all the impetus and we have stagnated since the turn of the year, earning only eight points in 2013 from a possible twenty one.

Two, well three games so far this season have seen Inverness own the Highlands and in the cup replay at Dingwall, the home dugout was awash with seethe as Derek Adams blew his top after watching his side lose a last second goal to Inverness.  The game went to a replay and we went on to the next round of the cup, County were left to wonder at what could have been.  Alas our cup run ended in the next round at Kilmarnock, but it was worth it to see Derek's face and gesticulations at the end of the game.  Seething!

The first league game ended in favour of Inverness, but not until late in the game when Aaron Doran scored a spectacular clincher to settle the game, 3-1 for Inverness and the Highlands were ours.

Shoooooooot!  It's Jones the shoot talking to CaleyD

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***Latest Team News***

Inverness welcome back Gary Warren after his suspension, boosted by the news that he has signed a new contract to keep him at The Caledonian Stadium for a further two years.  Butcher will have to decide which of the other cantral defenders should step down, tough choice as both did well in midweek.  Foran will hopefully show no ill effects which would demote Nick Ross to the bench and Hogg and King, well, they are still missing.

Ross County have no fresh worries and new scoring sensation Ivan Sproule will be ready for action after being subbed in midweek, just in case.

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tm4tj Prediction:-  We seem to be running scared on CTO this week at the prospect of facing the all conquering Ross County.     Gary Warren returning is a big plus for us and Richie Foran getting the last ten minutes in midweek was an added bonus.  County have been in inspired form recently and the acquisition of Sproule has been at the heart of this with five goals since he arrived in January.  But we have coped with him before when he played for Hibs, and I have no doubt we will manage once more.  This is a tough game though, played on County's tight pitch and it is imperative that we roll our sleeves up and get stuck in.  This could be a battle, and with Richie Foran in line for a return, then he is the very man to lead the charge.  Still, this could be the toughest game yet and maybe a share of the points is on the cards.  1-1 is my best guess.

Now then, the PC brigade are on the warpath, we all have to mind or P's & Q,s..........don't be the one that ends up in the cells for the sake of a bit of banter.  You're no Gypsies any more......................