tm4tj

Cup Defence. It's time to continue the defence of our trophy as the Scottish Cup fifth round draw takes us to Fir Park to face the 1952 & 1991 winners Motherwell. It's not the most glamorous of ties and certainly a tougher one than we would have liked at this stage, and one that Motherwell will feel they can win, but that's the luck of the draw I suppose. The transfer window came and went and it caused a bit of a stushie up North with the Greg Tansey affair taking all the headlines. The on off saga detracted slightly from the fact that Inverness did add a couple of players to our squad. Liam Hughes and Ryan Williams are both midfielders and will hopefully add a bit of craft to the squad. So, rightly or wrongly, Greg Tansey remains an Inverness Caledonian Thistle player for now amid much speculation and guesstimating. Greg's official agent is blaming a third party for all the confusion. We'll not add to the mystique and leave it at that, content that he will be pulling on an Inverness shirt this weekend. This is a cup game, but as far as league form goes there's not much between the sides and home advantage could be the deciding factor. Inverness sit just three points above Motherwell, the main disparity being a much superior goal difference. We have sored more and lost less showing a difference of 13 goals in our favour. We have played twice already this season and it's one win apiece. We opened our campaign with a 0-1 defeat to Motherwell in the Highlands. We were in a transition period then, prior to our injury ravaged era and went down rather tamely to an early Wes Fletcher goal. In the reverse fixture at Motherwell we pulled of a surprise but nonetheless welcome 3-1 victory. A Greg Tansey penalty and a Miles Storey deflected strike saw us go in at the break two ahead. Iain Vigurs scored a superb volley after the break before Louis Moult pulled one back for the Well. But that's how it ended, 1-3 for Inverness and a mini revival started in December to boost our points tally. Motherwell made their way to this stage by thrashing Cove Rangers 5-0. They took just two minutes to open the scoring through Moult and were 2-0 up after six minutes when Scott McDonald scored. Further counters from Marvin Johnson and Stephen Pearson put them in at the break four up and Pearson added his second to end the scoring after the hour. Since that game, the Steelmen have been thrashed 6-0 by Hearts, lost 2-1 to County, drawn with Dundee and lost a late goal when slipping to defeat at Partick. While Motherwell were cruising into the next round, we made heavy weather of our tie at Forthbank and Stirling Albion fully deserved another crack at their Premier opponents. It took two spectacular goals to see off the Binos in the replay, many Inverness fans just happy to get into the draw, but not overjoyed by another lack lustre performance. Their pessimism justified in our next league game, a drab 0-0 draw with Partick following on from defeat at Kilmarnock. Carl Tremarco is the latest player to extend his contract. That comes on top of Gary Warren, Ryan Esson and Ross Draper putting pen to paper, so some good news for Caley Jags fans after a nail biting transfer window comes to a close. Inverness can call on their new signings to boost the squad. Yogi looks likely to flood the midfield given our lack of strikers available. Dean Brill is almost ready to pull his gloves on, but Aaron Doran and Josh Meekings are out. James Vincent has been a recent omission and his box to box play has been missed. Richie Foran and Jordan Roberts continue their rehab on the bench. The unfortunate Alex Fisher is out for six weeks with a chipped ankle bone. Motherwell have added Morgaro Gomis on loan from Hearts, and he is eligible for this game. A couple of notable outs is David Clarkson who has been loaned to St Mirren and midfielder Liam Grimshaw has returned to Manchester United. There's not much fresh news coming out of Fir Park, but defender Ben Roberts is reported to be struggling to make this one. tm4tj Prediction:- It's a chance to forget the rigours of league football and serve up a footballing treat for the fans. Inverness as holders will be looking to remain in contention and Motherwell will be hoping home advantage will benefit them. On paper, it should be tight. Louis Moult will be one to keep an eye on. He has scored 13 goals this season and has picked up 5 yellow cards, so one way or another, an exciting prospect. We have been under the hammer recently, struggling to create sufficient opportunities for Miles Storey, but the young striker has been plugging away and the goals will come, eight so far for him. Our last game at Fir Park saw us run out 3-1 winners, it'll be tighter than that and might take a replay to sort this one out. Of course, we have put Motherwell out of the cup at Fir Park before. Barry Wilson scored with a spectacular goal from all of 75 yards. I believe next season it will be up to 80 yards, gets better with every passing year. Bring it on! The romance of the Cup goes on for some teams. Ross County have an intriguing home tie against the first Junior side to reach the 5th round, Linlithgow Rose. They are well travelled in their quest for cup glory having been to Galashiels, Inverness, Wick and Forfar. Good luck to Ross County in that one. The big tie is the Capital clash that pits Hearts at home to Hibernian, a club looking for their first Scottish Cup triumph in over a century. And good luck to East Kilbride as they try to inflict Celtic's third domestic defeat in a row. We are all East Kilbride. Shock troopers Annan Athletic were rewarded with a home tie against Greenock Morton after pumping Hamilton 4-1 in the last round. There's an early kick off at Ibrox where Championship leaders the Rangers take on Premiership strugglers, managerless Kilmarnock, and an all Premiership game at Tannadice as basement side United play Partick Thistle. The final tie has Dundee visiting the Sons of the Rock at Dumbarton.

It's Jambo Time GAME OFF If you are travelling to this game for the 12:30 kick off, keep an eye open for updates as there will be a pitch inspection at 07:30 We don't want anyone to be marooned. The official ICT twitter account will be your best option https://twitter.com/ICTFC or https://twitter.com/JamTarts Tough match this Saturday at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in the 12:30 kick off which will see Hearts as our opponents in the Premiership, weather permitting. The Jambos are having a tremendous season since getting back into the top division and are comfortably in third place with 41 points, 12 ahead of sixth place Inverness. They are also second top scorers with 42 goals and their defence is pretty solid too, conceding just 24, only Celtic and Aberdeen can better that. That gives them a goal difference of plus 18 compared to ours at minus 2. Last week we drew 0-0 with Partick Thistle in what can at best be described as a below par performance. In truth we were unable to break down a Partick side who had set their stall out to take a point at all cost, and they got that effortlessly as we huffed and puffed but could not blow the house down Hearts last game was also a 0-0 draw, at Hamilton where the Jambos were reduced to ten men for the whole of the second half, but they still came away with a point. Some good news for Caley Jags fans is that Gary Warren has signed on again, as have Ryan Esson and Ross Draper. We have already beaten Hearts up here this season in an entertaining 2-0 win. James Vincent and Miles Storey scored that day as Hearts finished the game with ten men, Juwon Oshaniwa dismissed after a tussle with Tobi Sho-Silva. The reverse game at Tynecastle was called off and has still to be played, Tuesday 1st of March is the re-scheduled date. Inverness are still plagued by injuries and John Hughes is looking to bring in more firepower given the news that striker Alex Fisher will probably be out for a couple of months with a chipped ankle bone. We have a couple of trialists up this week in the form of striker Victor Zapata-Caicedo and Liam Hughes, an attacking midfielder. Zapata was last with Czech side Banik Ostrava and Hughes has plied his trade for Cambridge United. I'll just call him Zapata, but he was highly thought of at the Tottenham Hotspur Academy before moving on and Hughes has only played for Cambridge United in his career. Inverness are still without Aaron Doran whose season can be written off. Dean Brill is another and Josh Meekings is catching up with them, apparently about another month at least. James Vincent has missed the last few games as well and new signing Alex Fisher is out for possibly two months. This must be our worst ever season for injuries, it's been non stop since the start of the season. With Esson signing on again, I wonder if we will see Brill back in action at the Caledonian Stadium. We persist with keeping Jordan Roberts and Richie Foran on the bench. I say if they are fit enough get them on the park, if not, get them off the bench. Hearts will definitely not have King Billy, sorry Billy King on show as he has gone to The Rangers for the rest of the season, masquerading as the Loan Ranger. Blazej Augustyn and Igor Rossi are both suspended and that could open the door for Oshaniwa and or Jordan McGhee to claim that position for themselves. Sam Nicholson and Jamie Walker could be fit enough to be included in the squad. tm4tj Prediction:- This may sound strange given our reluctance to create much last weekend, but I'm taking Inverness to edge this one. I hear you all laughing and falling off your seats, but here's my reasoning. When we are tasked to break down teams hell bent on keeping a clean sheet, we find that quite a chore and with us lacking some creativity since young Ryan Christie left we struggle to create the openings. However, teams like Aberdeen, Ross County and Hearts are easier for our style of counter attacking and will leave room at the back for us to exploit. So, if our defence can hold firm, I'm taking Miles Storey to hit the net and keep the points in the Highlands. Anyway, having seen Nat Wedderburn's shoulder dip, nothing can stop us now. See for yourself, I kid you not, we are now invincible...................

Isn't It Ironic As Alanis Morrisette once said, "Isn't It Ironic". We produce an utter borefest of a performance (0-0), and still creep into the top-six once more as others around us falter. Some people say that not all 0-0 games are boring. Well, this one topped the table in terms of boredom, mistakes, lack of creativity, lack of incident and a total lack of entertainment. Yes it was simply rubbish, even if you did pay what you can, you might be entitled to a refund. A great initiative by the club undermined by the dreadful fare on display. Andrea Mutombo started again after a dazzling one man show against Stirling Albion in the cup and Danny Williams was in with Liam Polworth on the bench. The crowd initiative drew in a few extra bodies hoping to be entertained. Sadly, entertainment was not on the menu so they had to make their own, and fair play to them, they kept chanting and dancing to the end, something the players should be thankful for. To be fair to the Caley Jags, it was us that looked the more interested early on with Mutombo continuing where he left off, running and twisting his way towards the defenders, a one man box of tricks. He fired one high and wide six minutes into the game. Sadly, he would run out of tricks before the break as Thistle began to suss him out. Miles Storey tested the keeper soon after but it was all too easy for the keeper. We were dominating the early possession, but as per usual, with little threat to the opposition goal. Iain Vigurs also shot over in a rare moment of movement from the luxury midfielder, but chances were at a premium for the rest of the half as Partick seemed to know that we lacked any punch up front which was indicative of our pedantic style of possession boredom. Ten minutes before the break and Gary Warren found himself outside the penalty box. He elected to shoot, maybe not his strongest point and the ball went high over the bar. This was swiftly followed by a cushioned header from Mutombo that went wide, and at the other end Steven Lawless dollied a shot into the hands of the untested Owain Fon Williams. Vigurs was yellow carded before the break and Ross Draper passed up the best chance of the half but tamely headed over. That was about the last action of a lifeless first half and Partick would be better pleased to be going in level. Half Time 0-0 It had been a shocker of a first half, unfortunately, the second wasn't any better. If anything, it looked worse as Partick began the process of levelling out the possession percentages. Mutombo earned a booking probably due to frustration as he was not getting beyond the defenders any more as the game entered a scrappy phase. Not a lot happened until Miles Storey brought out a finger tip save just under the crossbar to tip over his 25 yard shot. That managed to get the crowd off their mobiles to look up and see what all the commotion was about. However it never lasted and most were back to looking at twitter or posting status' on facebook. Liam Polworth had entered the scene, but unfortunately for him he would not be best pleased by his contribution. Storey did well down the left flank, skinning the full back and cutting the ball back to the feet of Polworth six yards out. He took a touch but could not dig the ball out from his feet and he ended up sclaffing the ball just wide of the post in the games best opportunity to make the fans happy. Full Time 0-0 What an absolute anti football game that was. If clubs want to increase attendances, then they are going about it the wrong way as teams are frightened to open out and be a bit more creative. Partick got what they came for, Inverness got what they deserved. On the park, Inverness were best served by new extended contract Captain Gary Warren, with Miles Storey looking better after the break and Danny Williams doing his best to help out. Regardless, the young fans behind the goal in the North Stand did their best to liven the atmosphere and they can go home with their heads held high as they take the MotM award for singing, dancing and drumming up some semblance of an atmosphere, something that should have been created on the park. Let's get this game out of the system as Hearts come North next week. I doubt they will sit back and wait for something to happen, let's hope we are prepared for it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMi4XB-pNp4 Date: 23/01/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3556 Referee: Greg Aitken Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Devine, Tansey, Williams, Vigurs, Mbuyi-Mutombo (Polworth 70), Storey Subs (not used): Esson, Foran, Wedderburn, Roberts, Brown, Sutherland Scorers: none Booked: Vigurs (41), Mbuyi-Mutombo (52) Sent Off: none Partick Thistle: 0 Lineup: Cerny, Seaborne, Welsh, Booth, Osman, Amoo, Bannigan, Doolan, Lawless (Elliott 57), Frans, Dumbuya Subs (not used): Scully, Miller, Wilson, Leyden, Nisbet, Penrice Scorers: none Booked: Booth (87), Seaborne (90) Sent Off: none

Return of the Bogey Men Inverness' bogey boys Partick Thistle come North to try and pile more misery on our injury riddled squad in this fixture which has been delegated a 'Pay What You Can' occasion. The Inverness injury jinx has hit again, this time it's new signing Alex Fisher who has been ruled out for a posible two months after chipping a bone in his ankle during the cup replay against Stirling Albion. We made our way into the fifth round of the Scottish Cup in midweek, but not before huffing and puffing our way past a determined League Two side. Mind you the two goals that saw us through were pretty special, but much of the outfield play was somewhat laboured. Andrea Mutombo was the midweek star and his goal was spectacular to say the least as he danced his way through the Binos defence. The previous weekend saw our six game unbeaten run come to an end at Rugby Park in a disappointing showing, going down 2-1. Prior to the last two games where they went down to a late Celtic goal and a surprise 4-2 defeat at the hands of Dundee, Partick were undefeated in the previous six League games, including a run of four games either side of a couple of draws. They beat Inverness 2-1 and trounced Kilmarnock 5-2, with 1-0 wins over Dundee United and Ross County. Scoring goals has been Partick's main concern with only 21 so far against 30 for Inverness. Our normally frugal defence has been disrupted this season and Partick are better in that department, losing 28 to our 32. That leaves Inverness above the Harry Wraggs in 7th place, and four points to the good, but Partick have a game in hand. Partick seem to hold the Indian sign over Inverness having won four of the last five League meetings, the other being a draw earlier this season. They also won the November fixture 2-1. Our only recent success was a 2-1 Scottish Cup win in February 2015, and we all know where that ended. Fourth to eleventh in the table are separated by just eight points and all the teams are either battling to avoid the relegation play off spot or trying to get into Europe. It's as tight as a ducks arse, and there is no room for error. Aaron Doran and Dean Brill are permanent names on the injury list and Josh Meekings and James Vincent have joined them. Alex Fisher will miss at least one month if not two. Alan Archibald has a couple of major doubts. Mathias Pogba and Gary Fraser are requiring treatment and Liam Lindsay is out suspended. Ryan Edwards is on U23 duty with his Australian squad. Abdul Osman returns after suspension. tm4tj Prediction:- Bad news about Alex Fisher, so that will leave Miles Storey without a strike partner again. With Partick able to beat us to order it would appear that we will have our work cut out to break their dominance over us. I don't see us abandoning our predictable and pedantic sideways passing game and Partick seem to have that sussed. We will do well to take a point from this game, anything else will be a welcome bonus. Score draw is my best bet.

Mutombo stunner settles ICT Inverness eased into the 5th round with a 2-0 win over Stirling Albion, but it took two superb strikes from Andrea Mutombo and Iain Vigurs to settle the tie against the League Two side. Danny Devine was returned to the heart of the defence after suspension at the weekend and Andrea Mutombo was given a start. Danny Williams was at left back with Carl Tremarco out. A brisk night met the players as they emerged from the tunnel and the crowd was kept to a minimum with Sky Sports covering the game. The first dangerous action of the tie was when Danny Williams brought down Steven Doris on the edge of the box. Doris took the free kick himself and curled his effort over the bar. Encouraging start for the Binos and they foraged forward again only to be blocked on the edge of the box at the expense of a corner which came to nothing as Ross Smith shot just wide. It's the League Two side that were making all the early running against a struggling Inverness, but Gary Warren almost scored with a header after a corner, however the ball got smuggled away from the six yard box and away from danger. Andrea Mutombo is able to showcase his twinkle toed skills and he curled a shot just over after fifteen minutes as Inverness begin to get to grips with the game. Five minutes later and Liam Polworth shoots over as the early Stirling threat seems to have evaporated, but the home side will need to up their accuracy if they want to progress. Back come the Binos though and Ross Smith heads wide to make sure Inverness are kept on their toes. Mutombo has had enough though and goes on another dazzling dribble. This time he cuts in from the left and ends it by exploding the ball behind Chris Smith from 25 yards into the keepers top right hand corner. Extreme goal from the one man showing the ability to get behind the Binos defence. It's all Inverness now and constant pressure brings about a couple of half chances but the final shots get snuffed out, Vigurs and Draper looking to add the second. Despite dominating, we are still finding it difficult to create any premium opportunities to get the second goal and too many crosses and passes are going astray allowing Albion time to regroup and remain in contention. Goal apart, that's another uninspiring 45 minutes from Inverness against a resolute Stirling Albion as the half fades out. Half Time 1-0 The poor touches and poor lay offs continue at the start of the second half, but as Inverness break forward, Ross Smith earns a booking for stopping Danny Williams dead in his tracks. Mutombo is still the one stretching the back line of the visitors defence and he pings a ball across goal, but the defenders hook it clear. Flattering to deceive springs to mind as Inverness play the ball back and fore across the Binos defensive line before once more overrunning the ball. Ten minutes into the half and a free kick causes a bit of urgency in the Inverness box before Mark Lamont fires over from outside the box. Better spell for the visitors as they force a corner and another scrambulation in the home box. Mutombo is still the main threat and he earns a free kick 25 yards out. Iain Vigurs wastes the chance as he hits the defensive wall. He would atone for that a few minutes later. Inverness broke from the back at pace. Raven fed Storey who held the ball until Draper found space. He raced forward before cutting back to the incoming Vigurs who guided the ball into the top corner from 18 yards for another stunning goal. Pick that one out. Inverness once more on the ascendency but more overplay results in Williams crossing behind after some tidy midfield passing. Draper got booked for upending Lamont, a bit soft looking, but it is Ross Draper, and Storey forged his way down the left after riding two challenges. Vigurs goes down in the box and all he got for his troubles was a booking. Oh dear. Two nil up, but we have been here before, Albion not blown out yet with 20 minutes to endure as Storey has an effort saved. Craig Beattie enters the tie as Stirling look to get back into the game, Ross Smith leaving the field and Alex Fisher replaces Liam Polworth with fifteen left. Tremendous work by Williams down the left allows Storey to thrash a ball goalwards, but Smith is equal to it and palms the shot away for a fruitless corner. Richie Foran and Jordan Roberts get some game time as Draper and MotM Mutombo leave the pitch. That sparked the visitors into life again as they forced a couple of corners, but it was Danny Devine that almost curled in a third goal, the ball almost shaving the outside of the post as it went just wide. Jordan Roberts' impact was almost instant. He was booked minutes after coming on. Oh well, we have waited long enough to see him on the park, I suppose any publicity is good publicity. Oh ffs, Alex Fisher is helped off the park with what looks like an ankle injury, that's all we need, and Stirling Albion end the game as they started, on the front foot. A free kick from Doris, a corner and a lob from Darren Smith going narrowly over the bar with Fon Williams stranded. Full Time 2-0 This game was won by the home side with the aid of two tremendous goals, both contenders for goal of the round. Stirling battled hard but it was Inverness who controlled the game and created the chances to get themselves into the next round where Motherwell await. Tonight's MotM goes to Andrea Mutombo. He did a power of work tonight dragging defenders all over the place and his trickery saw him ghost past a few in tight situations. His goal was a tremendous individual effort after drifting in from the left wing then unleashing a stunning strike from 25 yards. Miles Storey did nothing right in the first half but did plenty of unselfish sprinting after the break, unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions. From a selfish point of view, it would have been nice to score a barrowload of goals, but it's credit to Stirling Albion that we never as they stuck to the task and finished the game at our end of the park. Good luck to them for the rest of the season, the banana skin put away for another year. It's Fir Park for us on the weekend of 6th February in the 5th round Date: 19/01/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 1231 Referee: Mat Northcroft Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Fon-Williams, Raven, Warren, Draper (Foran 82), Devine, Tansey, Williams, Polworth (Fisher 76), Vigurs, Mbuyi-Mutombo (Roberts 82), Storey Subs (not used): Esson, Wedderburn, Brown, Sutherland Scorers: Mbuyi-Mutombo (28), Vigurs (61) Booked: Williams (3) Sent Off: none Stirling Albion: 0 Lineup: W.Smith, Mazel, Forsyth, McGeachie, R.Smith (Beattie 75), Robertson, Johnston (Cunningham 69), Comrie (Lamont 50), Doris, D.Smith, Dickson Subs (not used): Binnie, Hamilton, Verlaque, Kouider-Aissa, Scorers: none Booked: R.Smith (50) Sent Off: none 0 Quote Edit

Another Chance Cup replay coming up on Tuesday night as Inverness welcome Stirling Albion back to the Highlands. The last time they were here, April 1999, they left Inverness with a point after a 2-2 draw thanks to a double from Alex Bone. Duncan Shearer had scored both Inverness goals. Inverness held the Binos to a scoreless draw at Forthbank a couple of Saturdays ago and the League Two side deserve another chance to progress in the competition as the Premiership side failed to get the better of their opponents. Having avoided the banana skin that day, you would have to fancy Inverness' chances of completing the job on Tuesday, but we are fairly inept at getting the better of underdogs and after a drab display at Forthbank, followed by a toothless performance at Rugby Park, one could be forgiven for wondering which club will be seen as the underdog. Stirling had their game on Saturday postponed at Elgin as Inverness struggled their way to defeat against Kilmarnock and the weather. The game was played out on a snowbound pitch as we once more failed to beat a club floundering at the bottom end of the league. The winning goal was a stunning volleyed strike, but it does not detract from another insipid performance from Yogi's side. The only bright spot for Inverness to come out of that game was our 1500th competitive goal. That landmark was achieved by Ross Draper. Not a regular scorer, 8 goals in 135 appearances, but nonetheless it's his name that goes into the record books. We are bereft of creativity at the moment and added to that is more injury woes that we are unable to cope with. Josh Meekings has not played for a month now and can be added to the longer term casualties. James Vincent missed out at Killie and Jordan Roberts once more filled a space on the bench but is yet to feature since his early season injury. Alex Fisher has been brought into the squad but will need time to get up to speed. Inverness will have Danny Devine back after he missed the Killie game through suspension. Richie Foran is another bench warmer, but not sure if he is ready for a full blooded cup tie yet. Doran, Brill and Meekings will not feature. Stirling Albion are without hamstring duo Kevin McKinlay and Ross McMillan, and new signing Scott Buist is ineligible, having signed too late for this 4th round replay. Motherwell await the victors at Fir Park in the 5th round and there's no guarantee that will be Inverness. In fact, given our reluctance to see games out, it would not surprise me if we struggle through this game as well. We should have enough in the tank to see off the Binos, but you could say that about the first game as well. I won't go as far as to say that Stirling will progress, but I will be pleasantly surprised if we can get through without any drama. Fingers crossed it is then.............

Snow good enough Inverness lost 2-1 at a snowy Kilmarnock as we slid to defeat. This result leaves us looking down the table with trepidation instead of setting our sights on challenging for a European slot behind Celtic, Aberdeen and Hearts. Ross Draper scored a landmark 1500th goal for Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but it was not enough to save us from losing this game as Greg Kiltie and Craig Slater scored the goals to move Killie to within four points of Inverness. Slater's goal was an absolute belter, volleying home from the edge of the box via the underside of the bar, a goal fit to win any game. The snow did it's best to help Inverness out but despite a late flurry from the visitors, it was Killie that took all three points. Date: 16/01/16 Venue: Rugby Park, Kilmarnock Attendance: 2937 Referee: Don Robertson Kilmarnock: 2 Lineup: MacDonald, Findlay, Higginbotham (Robinson 87), Ashcroft, Slater, Kiltie, Syme, Balatoni, Carrick, Hamill, Frizzell (Obadeyi 77) Subs (not used): Brennan, Boyd, Barbour, Hawkshaw, Splaine Scorers: Kiltie (9), Slater (51) Booked: Slater (52) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon-Williams, Raven (Sutherland 81), Tremarco, Warren, Draper, Wedderburn (Fisher 62), Tansey, Williams, Polworth (Mbuyi-Mutombo 61), Vigurs, Storey Subs (not used): Esson, Foran, Roberts, Brown Scorers: Draper (41) Booked: Tansey (28), Mbuyi-Mutombo (80), Tremarco (92) Sent Off: none

Rugby Park Test. Off to Ayrshire this weekend as we get back to league duties with a visit to Rugby Park to face an upbeat Kilmarnock who will provide a stern test for our top six side. Killie got a massive boost last weekend as they ousted St Johnstone from the Scottish Cup at Perth, having drawn 2-2 the previous week against Hearts. While Killie were marching on, we stumbled around Forthbank in a dirge of a game and left needing a replay to sort out our tie with Stirling Albion. It was the lack of creation that left most fans despondent, and we are thankful that we managed to avoid the big banana skin that Hamilton Accies stood on. That said, we are now six games unbeaten, although a much improved performance will be required if we are to take anything from Rugby Park. Since we last met on the 12th of December, we have remained unbeaten, winning two of our five games and drawing the others including the cup game at Forthbank. Kilmarnock have not fared as well, and their only other win apart from the cup tie was at Hamilton where they scored the only goal. They lost to Aberdeen and Ross County in that sequence as well as the draw against Hearts. Killie's last home win was in mid October when they beat none other than Inverness CT. We were rather sluggish that day and failed to take early chances and paid the full price as goals from Greg Kiltie and Josh Magennis won the game rather comfortably in the end. That should be enough of a warning for Yogi as he looks to keep his side above the relegation tussle. Inverness will be looking for new signing Alex Fisher to get up to speed and add some much needed backing for striker Miles Storey. Kilmarnock's defence could be just the tonic our new strike pairing will be looking for as they boast the most goals conceded in the league (41). Their strikers are not much better bagging just 24, giving them a goal difference of minus 17 compared to minus 1 for the Caley Jags. Kilmarnock will be minus three suspended players with the burly Josh Magennis, Steven Smith and Kevin McHattie all missing one game for accumulative bookings. Mark O'Hara, Scott Robinson and Chris Johnston are all sidelined, but Lee McCulloch will make himself available for selection. Inverness will also have to re-shuffle their back line with Josh Meekings still out injured and Danny Devine suspended for one game. Also out are Aaron Doran and Dean Brill. Richie Foran could make the bench but is unlikely to feature. With Alex Fisher now on the books, Spanish striker Dani Lopez has returned to Spain after failing to establish himself high enough up the pecking order. tm4tj Prediction:- We are a stronger unit than the one which lost back in October, despite being able to call on Ryan Christie for that one. With players back to full fitness we are better prepared and should be looking to take something from this game. However our negative approach at Stirling has riled some fans and maybe we need a bit more time before we can get back to some semblance of free flowing football. The tightness of the league dictates how we set our stall out, but sometimes you have to give it a go. The onus will be on Killie as the home team, I hope we don't offer them the same time on the ball that we donated to Stirling Albion, as that could be our downfall. We might have to settle for a point, but it will be better than none at all, so I expect Yogi to take the cautious approach. Go on, surprise me! Scoring draw, with us losing a goal deep into injury time. 2-2.

Forthbank Stalemate Stirling Albion rightly took all the plaudits in this fourth round tie as Scottish Cup champions Inverness Caledonian Thistle were made to look more like chumps as they struggled to a scoreless draw against the League Two part timers. The weather relented sufficiently for this game to go ahead as Inverness began the defence of their trophy in Stirling. The last time the clubs met here in the cup Inverness trounced the Bino's 6-1. There would be no such outcome this time as the home side had done their homework and negated anything the visitors had to offer, which in truth was very little. An encouraging away support were on hand to witness our opening defence and many left disappointed at our inability to create anything resembling a chance, although everyone was grateful for the opportunity to rectify this in the replay on Tuesday 19th of January. New signing Alex Fisher started on the bench along with Andrea Mutombo and perennial bench warmer Jordan Roberts. Danny Williams filled the vacant left back position in Carl Tremarco's enforced absence. Stirling made three changes from the side that flopped against East Stirling the previous week. Out went Ross McGeachie, David Verlaque and Mark Lamont, and in came Ross Smith, Craig Comrie and Phil Johnston. Craig Beattie was on the bench. A relatvely lively opening from the visitors saw little happening but Danny Williams had a shot well saved by Chris Smith in the eighth minute after linking neatly with Liam Polworth. It would go on to be a dreadful first half with Inverness allowing their opponents to get bodies behind the ball with their painstakingly slow build up play which made for little entertainment for the crowd. The first half came and went without much ado as the fans waited for something to happen. Half Time 0-0 Yogi had seen enough of the ineffective and out of position Nat Wedderburn and pulled him off at the break, replacing him with Alex Fisher in the hope that this would inject a bit more urgency about events. Miles Storey, David Raven and Danny Devine all came close in a more up tempo second half, but we were still too intent on boring Stirling Albion into submission, but the Bino's were having none of it and were probing well on the break. Darren Smith fired over the bar five minutes after the interval and that was a warning shot for Inverness. But our pedantic style was inviting a shock and Owain Fon Williams denied Willie Robertson after the hour. Craig Beattie entered the fray as the game trudged towards a climax and you could smell the banana skin being peeled. We almost stood on it and Gary Warren prevented the slip when he blocked a Steven Doris effort which looked as if it might have gone in. Greg Tansey fired one just wide but we could not put ourselves into the hat on our own and Stirling Albion deservedly joined us. Full Time 0-0 This was not about what we didn't do, it was all about what Stirling Albion did and they thoroughly deserved another crack at us. We should not be taking this lightly and can consider ourselves fortunate to get another chance to right the many wrongs. The MotM were all wearing Bino's white and red and they collect that accolade as a team. Congratulations to Stirling Albion. For Inverness, it's time to take stock and ask ourselves if we really did enough against a team 32 places below us in the Scottish Football tier system. I think we all know the answer. Alternative Maryhill was at the game and made these observations:- Disappointing performance. I know that our default strategy is to sit deep and build from the back, but I thought that yesterday would be an opportunity, against part-time players from a league below, to press higher up the park and try to overwhelm them early in the game. For the first ten minutes it looked like we were going to do that, with Storey and Williams both looking particularly lively, and Stirling's left back looking vulnerable. However, we then reverted to the deep-lying, low-tempo approach and created next to nothing for the rest of the half. Stirling were quick and direct down the right hand side, and looked threatening on a couple of occasions, although their moves tended to fall apart when they got to the edge of our box. We had a few more chances and close shaves in the second half, but rarely forced the Stirling keeper into saves. Fisher doesn't seem to have much pace, although he may need time to get up to the pace of competitive games, but he did add a bit of presence up front, and it may be that, if they play together, Storey starts to play a more roaming role, dropping deeper to collect the ball and taking it out wide when required - he was doing that anyway yesterday, but there was rarely any support for him until Fisher arrived. I don't have too many fears for the replay, but we will need much more of a cutting edge and more ability to press teams if we are going to get anywhere near where we did last season. Players of the calibre and directness of Watkins and Shinnie were sorely missed yesterday. Stirling Albion: 0 C Smith, Mazel, McKinlay (McGeachie 12), Forsyth, R Smith, Robertson, Johnston (Lamont 62), Comrie (Beattie 79), Doris, D Smith, Dickson. Subs (not used): Verlaque, Cunningham, Kouider-Aissa, Binnie (GK). Inverness CT: 0 O F Williams, Raven, Warren, Devine, Wedderburn (Fisher 46), Tansey, D Williams, Polworth, Draper, Vigurs (Mbuyi-Mutombo 79), Storey. Subs (not used): Roberts, Brown, Sutherland, MacRae, Esson (GK). Referee: Mat Northcroft Crowd: 1,224

Title defence begins Inverness start the defence of their trophy in the 4th round of the Scottish Cup on Saturday against Stirling Albion at Forthbank Stadium with a 15:00 kick off. We have played there before in the cup, and in January 2007 ran out big winners with a 6-1 scoreline. Craig Dargo grabbed a couple and Dennis Wyness, Roy McBain, Barry Wilson and Alan Morgan completed the Inverness scoring. David O'Brien got the Bino's goal, but it was the Highlanders that cruised into the next round. 1521 attended that game, I wonder how the crowds will fare for this one? We put Dundee United out in the fourth round thanks to a Russell Duncan screamer but we fell foul to two late goals by Celtic in the quarter final. We had led through a Graham Bayne goal after 18 minutes, but were caught out as Celtic equalised through Steven Pressley in the 89th minute. We had our thoughts on a replay but Kenny Miller stunned the Inverness fans by scoring in the 91st minute to send us crashing out of the competition. Just goes to show that losing late goals is nothing new for us. Celtic went on to lift the trophy that year. The clubs have met six times, mostly in our early days in the Second Division. Inverness have won four, Stirling one and the other game was a 2-2 draw in Inverness. We have scored 12 goals at Stirling in three games, conceding only twice. The tie Stirling Albion won was a Challenge Cup game at Forthbank in 96/97 when they won 3-1. Back to the future though and Stirling Albion have made their way to this game by beating East Fife 1-0 after a goalless draw nine days earlier. In the third round, the Bino's trounced lowland league side Cumbernauld Colts 6-0. Steven Doris and Craig Beattie both scored braces and Kyle Lander and Sean Dickson completed the scoring. With most of Scotland suffering from serious flooding and snow issues plenty of folk will be keeping an eye on the weather forecast prior to this game. Stirling Albion have tried their best to re-assure everyone that the weather and pitch should be OK, but as we know, that can change swiftly. Ross McMillan is out for Stirling Albion with a hamstring problem and he should be the only absentee. The Cup holders will be without Carl Tremarco who was sent off after stumbling over the ball in last seasons final before bringing down the Falkirk player in attempting to rectify his error. Josh Meekings has missed recent games and Jordan Roberts has not been tried out although he has been on the bench. Otherwise, Inverness will be on familiar lines as recent weeks, although Tobi Sho-Silva has left the building. tm4tj Prediction:- Stirling Albion come into this game off the back of a surprise 3-2 defeat to struggling East Stirling who are propping up League Two and they were also beaten 3-1 by East Fife in the previous game. Stirling sit just outside the play off position in fifth place. Inverness are on a high after an excellent derby win over Ross County and are unbeaten in five now having entered the top-six. No disrespect to The Bino's who are having a solid season, but if we can't get ourselves into the draw for the fifth round then there's something wrong. Miles Storey is looking to get back on a scoring run, and who would bet against him notching our 1500th competitive goal. Now that he is staying at Inverness for the rest of the season, watch him go! I doubt this will be as easy as some would have us believe, but we should be strong enough to progress. Away win for me and Inverness' ball to be in Gary Anderson's hand soon. ***Latest News*** Inverness have added six foot three Englishman Alex Fisher to their squad and the 25 year old is apparently eligible to be included in todays team if seleced. Fisher is an out of contract striker signed after leaving Torquay United by mutual consent. He had scored 7 goals in 22 appearances for the Gulls. His arrival could open the ICT exit door for another out of favour striker at Inverness in the shape of Dani Lopez. Partick Thistle are the first side through to the next round of the cup after they knocked out St Mirren 2-1 last night. From Bino's website Admission: Adults £15, Seniors & Students £10, U16s £5. Cash at the turnstiles. Fans: Albion supporters should use turnstiles 1, 2 3, & 4 in the West Stand. Turnstiles 7, 8, 9 & 10 will be open in the East Stand for ICT fans. Replay date: If the game ends in a draw, the replay will take place at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium on Tuesday January 19.

The Highlands are ours. Inverness won the New Year derby 2-0 with a thoroughly deserved victory over first footers Ross County at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, reclaiming the Highlands. First half goals from Miles Storey and Greg Tansey were enough to see off the visitors as Inverness closed to within two points of neighbours Ross County. The Caley Jags had Raven and Tremarco in the full back slots as they went seeking their 1500th goal. Ross County had a surprise omission with striker Liam Boyce out with an injured hand, Alex Schalk given the task of getting the County goals in the New Year derby. The home fans were in fine voice as the sides came out on a warm 2nd of January afternoon and the drums were beating a pulsating rhythm which would transfer onto the park to keep the players energy levels high. It was the visitors who looked sharper in the opening exchanges and Rocco Quinn might have done better than to fire over from an inviting position after seven minutes. David Raven did likewise a few minutes later at the other end but it was County that were making most of the early play. Quinn and Martin Woods missed in quick succession as we rode our luck a little and Craig Curran was replaced with Brian Graham before twenty minutes were up because of an injury, but the home side were beginning to get to grips with the pace of the game. With 25 minutes gone Inverness took the lead. A corner was knocked out of the box and James Vincent returned it goalwards. Miles Storey was alert enough to re-direct the ball beyond Scott Fox from close range to open the scoring. Tough on County maybe, but they were made to pay for earlier missed opportunities. With half an hour on the clock, Ross Draper failed to keep a header down from a corner as the ball went over the bar. Five minutes before the break, Andrew Davies had a header saved by Owain Fon Williams as County tried to get back on level terms, but it was Inverness that would go in at the interval much the happier side. Greg Tansey took a free kick wide on the left after Wedderburn had been fouled. He directed his cross come shot towards the danger area and with two or three missing the ball, it bounced through everybody and ended up in the net. That was the final action of the first half and Inverness had stolen a march on their rivals with that second goal in stoppage time. Half Time 2-0 Now then, 2-0 has been a dangerous lead for us in recent games but we were in no mood to let this one slip. We had rolled our sleeves up during the beak and came out snapping at the visitors heels, not allowing them to settle on the ball. Yogi hooked Wedderburn soon after the break looking to get Iain Vigurs to control the pace of the game. This seemed to work well and County would get little joy in the second half. Michael Gardyne was having little joy but he did get a shot away from a tight angle which Williams saved at the expense of a corner. Alex Schalk was ineffective as a replacement for Liam Boyce and he was replaced by Raffaele De Vita as Jim McIntyre shuffled his pack. Martin Woods had a couple of shots saved by Williams but it was Liam Polworth who should have scored the next goal. Great play by inverness around the box teed up Polworth who tried to guide his shot into the top of the net. Unfortunately he directed it past the top corner of the net. Vigurs also chose the wrong side of the post as the game raged from end to end and the drum beat got louder, the full repertoire unloaded on the fans ears. Miles Storey had been running the County back line ragged and he almost scored a spectacular third goal. He whistled a rasping shot high at the goal, but Scott Fox made a finger tip save to divert the ball onto the bar as Inverness looked to kill off the game. Gary Warren tried an acrobatic overhead effort but the keeper had it covered as Inverness played the game out in front of the North Stand, County reduced to speculative efforts and wayward free kicks. Mutombo came on and had time to lash a sot wide from an acute angle. Might have been better lifting his head and looking for a team mate but it mattered not a jot. The Highlands were ours once more. Full Time 2-0 Maybe a tad fortunate to open up a two goal gap in the first half, but our second half performance was tremendous and we ran out comfortable winners in the end. Miles Storey was my Man of the Match, giving the County defence a torrid time of it, scored one and almost added a second but for a great save by the keeper. Ross Draper was also impressive and another great display from Liam Polworth who should have scored as well. Defensively solid and the clean sheet was a massive bonus. We are back inside the top-six again and just two points behind County. Not bad for the Pride of the Highlands considering the start we made to our season. Next week it's cup action at Stirling, maybe the 1500th goal will come in that game. Date: 02/01/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 5388 Referee: John Beaton Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Tremarco (Williams 82), Vincent (Mbuyi-Mutombo 88), Warren, Draper, Devine, Wedderburn (Vigurs 53), Tansey, Polworth Subs (not used): Esson, Lopez, Roberts Scorers: Storey (26), Tansey (45+2) Booked: Wedderburn (33), Raven (79) Sent Off: none Ross County: 0 Lineup: Fox, Reckord, Quinn (Franks 57), Boyd, Gardyne, Curran (Graham 17), Foster, Davies, Schalk (De Vita 66), Woods, Irvine Subs (not used): Woods, Fraser, McShane, Murdoch Scorers: none Booked: Boyd (54) Sent Off: none