tm4tj

Treble Party Poopers Cup finaIists Inverness have an invite to the Champions party this Sunday as we take on treble double winners Celtic at Parkhead. We might not be the most popular of guests having thwarted the Hoops in their bid for the treble. It's been a fabulous season for Inverness with lots of firsts achieved this season. Qualification for the Europa league, Scottish Cup final, highest points tally in Premier League, Manager of the Year for Yogi and Young Player of the Year for Ryan Christie. There are many more trotted out on CTO, but these are massive, and just reward for everybody concerned with Inverness Caledonian Thistle from the tea lady to the Chairman, the Twitter Account to the Facebook page, the youths who paraded their trophy at the Dundee United game and to all the players who pulled on the shirt this season. I nearly forgot the most important ones, and that's the fans who have followed our team through thick and thin. Yes, there were plenty of concerned punters when John Hughes took over as Caley Jags boss, but I'll tell you what, he has had worse seasons. Massive credit to Yogi and Russell Latapy for changing the way we played our football and winning over the fans. And it's wonderful to see our manager and our players get the recognition they deserve from their peers and the people who write about our national sport. On to the task in hand and it's always a troublesome trip to Parkhead on the day the Celts are parading their trophies. The party atmosphere always inspires them to greater things and many a side have been routed on this day. The bonus for us is that while it would be nice to engage them competitively, It is neither here nor there what the result is on the day as we have bigger fish to fry the weekend after. With that in mind, I would expect Hughes to change his side to remain competitive, but to protect his stars from any damage. Team news this week is not worth the paper it's not written on. We all know that Richie Foran and Dean Brill are out, but that's the only thing we can guarantee. My best guess is that Yogi will alter the structure of his team to ensure that he can maximise his options next week. Celtic, well they are out to celebrate and it matters not a jot who they put out against us, cos we are playing next week and you're not. Apologies to anyone that is looking for some clarification on team selections, but next week is our time. tm4tj prediction:- I reckon we will get pumped. Am I bothered. No, roll on the Scottish Cup Final.

Time to Relax Dundee United are the visitors on Saturday with them still searching for the points that could lead to a European slot should Inverness win the Scottish Cup. Inverness can now approach this game under less pressure than previous weeks with qualification for Europe already assured and a place in the Cup final achieved. It's our third game in a row against Dundee teams and the last two were successful with victory over United eleven days ago and Dundee last weekend. Neither of these games were easy but it broke a rotten sequence of results for Inverness in the league and resulted in the club qualifying for Europe after 21 years in existence but almost 250 years of history. Our last game saw Edward Ofere score his fifth goal in six games and with Ryan Esson in superb form Inverness kept a blank sheet to secure that elusive place in history. Cue jubilation in the ranks and relief all round. What a season for Yogi and the boys and a great season if you are an ICT fan. Whilst Inverness were beating Dundee, United were drawing with Euro rivals St Johnstone at Perth and that leads us into this weekends games leaving the Tayside rivals trying to claim fourth in the league. United's quest might become more apparent after Friday night when St Johnstone take on Champions Celtic. United have only two wins in their last sixteen games which has co-incided with the departure of their young stars to Celtic. Inverness have won two of this seasons three meetings with the other one drawn. With Inverness relaxing, Yogi could rest one or two ahead of the Cup final and who could blame him. Falkirk already have that luxury, their season finished a couple of weeks ago, but we had to find that Euro push to secure the points. Our squad is still wafer thin and it has been a tough season. Thankfully injuries have been at a premium and that has helped enormously although suspensions rear their ugly heads at inoppertune moments. Nigerian striker Edward Ofere has hinted that he would like to further his career at Inverness and his agent will have to negotiate for him to remain in the Highland capital. In the meantime though, he is scoring for fun and is endearing himself to the Caley Jags fans. Inverness can call on a similar squad to last week at Dens Park although David Raven has reportedly broken through the yellow card threshold and will miss the game. That ommission should see Cup Final centre back Danny Devine continue at the heart of the defence with Josh Meekings continuing at right back. We have midfield options with Ross, Doran and Vincent looking to break into the final squad. Dundee United's Callum Morris has suffered a recurrence of a knee injury and will miss out. Ryan McGowan, Ryan Dow, Paul Paton and Mario Bilate had already been ruled out for the rest for the season. United should otherwise have an unchanged squad. tm4tj prediction:- At last a game where it doesn't really matter if we win lose or draw, although it would be nice to send the guys off to Hampden with a win. But hey ho, I'm sure Yogi will be looking for full committment from whoever he chooses to play tomorrow. Dundee United have more cause to battle for everything with the possibility of a European place still up for grabs and I would expect nothing less than a robust challenge on the park. That said, I will be backing Inverness for a minimum of one point and hopefully all three.