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Old heads back for Well Motherwell are the victims this weekend as Inverness take their unbeaten 2015 to Fir Park in a top end versus bottom clash. Inverness will be making the journey without the red carded Garry Warren and threshold breaker Marley Watkins as a result of their fiery midweek encounter with the aggressive Arabs, who managed to convince the referee that Inverness are a bunch of hammer throwers. Shifty Ciftci used all his continental flair to sneakily and blatantly shove and smash Inverness players behind the refs back in an attempt to even up the numerical advantage. However, the camera never lies and he has been hauled over the coals by the SFA for his nasty tricks. Unfortunately Warren reacted and his card sticks at the moment. As mentioned, Inverness are unbeaten in their last ten games and are pushing for a top three finish. Motherwell, on the other hand are in free fall. It's nine games since The Steelmen won a game, beating Partick 1-0 at the end of December. Since then they have picked up only one point in a home draw with St Johnstone, and that form has seen them hit the bottom of the league with County and St Mirren all level on points, but Well's goal difference worse than both. Motherwell are having a torrid time of it injury wise and have moved to strengthen their squad in the battle to avoid relegation. Former players Scott McDonald and Stuart Pearson have been drafted in to help the cause and they have been fantastic servants of the club in the past. McDonald has scored 45 goals for Motherwell and will be a threat to our makeshift back line and his experience will be invaluable as Well look to get off the bottom. Inverness have signed Nigerian striker Edward Ofere until the end of the season. His most prominent role was at Malmo where he played 85 times, scoring 24 goals over a five year period. Not certain whether clearance has arrived yet or not. Pulling a sickie for Motherwell are Steven Hammell, Iain Vigurs, Zaine Francis-Angol, Paul Lawson, Jack Leitch and Bob McHugh. Inverness are a bit threadbare just now and the two suspensions will hit us hard. Foran has been out forever and Dean Brill is still suffering from his knee injury. Aaron Doran and James Vincent are badly needed back in the squad and have returned to training and Danny Devine will be drafted back into the squad in the absence of Gary Warren. tm4tj prediction:- With Motherwell strengthening big time, this could be a tricky game to negotiate and with us understrength we will do well to come away with a point.

Fierce Stuff for a Fiver A fiercely contested game at Tannadice saw United's keeper Michal Szoromnik sent off after fouling Marley Watkins and the resultant Greg Tansey penalty had Inverness going in at half time with a one goal advantage. Referee Calum Murray also saw fit to yellow card United's Paul Paton and a trio of visitors, David Raven, after 10 seconds, Graeme Shinnie and Gary Warren in an ill tempered encounter. Maybe we could have done with Murray last Saturday to tame the Killie rowdies. Marley Watkins and Ryan Christie joined the yellow card express along with Ryan Dow as players from both sides showed poor discipline in the second half as United tried to rescue their predicament. The ten men took the game to the visitors and United deservedly equalised after 74 minutes, Ryan McGowan banging the ball home after a corner at the second attempt. No surprise that Gary Warren was red carded in time added on as Inverness completely lost the plot with Ciftci also yellow carded. It would appear that Ciftci new exactly what he was doing as his forearm smash to the back of Warrens head sparked an angry reaction from the big defender which ultimately led to his dismissal as he went head to head with the Turk. Inverness would rue their missed chances in the first half and numerical superiority as once more we failed to build on an early advantage and the battle ended in a 1-1 draw, with two and eight Dundee United - 1 Ryan McGowan (74) Szromnik, Dillon, McGowan, Fojut, Dixon, Paton, Butcher(Anier 84), Connolly (Muirhead 76), Dow, Erskine (Cierzniak 7) Ciftci. Subs:- Souttar, Rankin, Telfer, Spittal, Inverness CT - 1 Tansey (pen 9) Esson, Raven, Warren, Meekings, Shinnie, Ross, Draper, Tansey, Williams, Christie, Watkins Subs:- Mackay, Horner, Tremarco, Polworth, Sutherland, Ferguson Referee:- Calum Murray Crowd:- 7276

The Fiver Game The race for second, third and fourth hots up tonight despite the inclement weather of the last few days where hopefully, Dundee United will take on Inverness in a game rearranged from the 17th of January, when strangely enough, inclement weather caused the postponement of the game on a rather wintry Saturday afternoon. span> It was a rather late call off considering the distance between the two clubs, but the good news is that United recognise the issues and have reduced admission prices for this game. We have had the pay what you can game at Inverness, the 10p game at Hamilton and now we have the Fiver game at Tannadice to compensate for that late call off, so cuedos to the United board for taking that route. It's an important game for both clubs though with Inverness moving above the Arabs in recent weeks. Both sides suffered in the transfer window with prized assets moving on. Billy Mckay off to Wigan, and a triple bow for United with Gary Mackay-Steven and Stuart Armstrong both moving to arch enemies Celtic, probably the biggest disappointment of the lot. 　 The first encounter this season saw Inverness win 1-0 in the Highlands thanks to an early Marley Watkins strike. In truth though, the score was kind to United who managed to keep it to one goal. Billy Mckay missed a few chances that day, I'm not so sure he is in the same mood right now after his clinical display at Rugby Park. United reached the final of the League Cup at the end of January by beating Aberdeen 2-1 and followed that up with a convincing Scottish Cup win at Stranraer. Since then, their last two league games have ended in defeat. A last minute free kick by Kilmarnock saw them lose 3-2 at Rugby Park and a Tayside derby defeat to near neighbours St Johnstone at the weekend has seen a seven point gap open up between the sides. Inverness are unbeaten since the turn of the year with seven wins and two draws. The last game saw Kilmarnock come from behind three times to earn a point at Inverness in a less than exiting 3-3 draw. Maybe exciting if you are a Killie fan, but frustration was the order of the day for Inverness as we lost the lead rather tamely and fortuitously so soon after going ahead. Our defence had been pretty secure prior to that game, but an off day by one or two allowed Killie back in and a point apiece it was. Danny Williams scored a thumping goal though and along woth Ryan Christie looked the likeliest to get the winner, but it was not to be. Inverness are still without Dean Brill and Aaron Doran. James Vincent also missed last weekends game against Killie and there's no news suggesting he is ready to play. Dundee United midfielder Charlie Telfer should be fit, but striker Mario Bilate has not yet recovered from a hamstring injury. John Souttar and Radoslaw Cierzniak are struggling for fitness and could miss out.

Rugby Park, Rugby Players. They came from Rugby Park and some of them looked more suitable for the game of Rugby. Kilmarnock's Josh Magennis barged his way around the park ably supported by one or two others who were left to knock over Inverness players at will without fear of repercussion by Steve McLean, who put in a performance ranking high on the Willie Collum scale. It was a frustrating afternoon for the home support as Kilmarnock pegged us back three times to share the points in a disappointing 3-3 draw. Aberdeen bound Graeme Shinnie opened the scoring but the lead lasted just two minutes before a fortuitous leveller from Nathan Ecclestone squared the game. Nick Ross is credited with scoring the second for Inverness but a dubious lead up to Killie's free kick saw them level the game right on half time, the ball coming off the post and Essons back before dropping over the line. Nothing lucky about our third. Danny Williams whistled home a glorious strike from 25 to 30 yards across the keeper but a frustrated home crowd saw us gift Killie yet another goal to end the scoring when Obadeyi knocked home from a corner. Less than 3000 fans were in attendance as Inverness and Killie served up a six goal thriller................Erm, no that's not quite right. There was six goals scored but it certainly wasn't a thriller, more gripping than thrilling and frustrating than exhilarating. I'll cut to the chase. Inverness opened the scoring when Marley Watkins teed up Graeme Shinnie who crashed the ball home from fifteen yards, but the lead was short lived. Nathan Ecclestone latched on to a wickedly deflected shot to drive the ball under Esson a couple of minutes later. There was only one team playing football as Killie resorted to hustle and bustle, but they went unpunished for too long. Josh Magennis was the main perpetrator and he would have been better employed at Murrayfield as he shoved his way about the park. Once again it was the home side that were intent on getting back ahead and they deservedly took the lead after great work by Christie who released Watkins. He picked out Nick Ross at the front post and the ball eventually found the net after a couple of ricochets. However, in time added on before the break, Killie were handed a goal by the incompetent MacLean who ignored Nick Ross being bundled over by man mountain and then had the temerity to award Killie a free kick for a similar challenge as they sped towards the home box with Ross lying on the turf nursing a sore body. Nothing wrong with Craig Slater's strike which Esson seemed to tip onto the post, but the ball bounced back onto Esson to enter the net, the last act of the half and unbelievably the visitors went in at the break level. Half Time 2-2 Not too much goalmouth action too report but Danny Williams lit up a chilly afternoon with a tremendous goal. He gathered the ball inside the Killie half and drove goalwards across the defence. He unleashed a sweetly struck shot on the run that brushed the hair of a Killie defender as it sped beyond an outstretched Samson in the Killie goal and deservedly once more put Inverness ahead. But, as Inverness failed to kill off the game despite a couple of goalmouth scrambles Killie showed their new found grit once again. David Raven, who has had better games, lost the ball in a forward position, not for the first time, and Obadeyi raced free only to be blocked, the ball going for a corner. Danger averted we all thought. Not so. When the corner came in the ball broke to Obadeyi off Raven's head and he lashed the ball high into the net from close range to end the scoring. Full Time 3-3 In truth, it was a game of few chances. Those that did come along ended up in the net. Killie's rough house tactics paid off as we were shoved around, MacLean not stifling this until late in the game. It ended with both sides grateful for a point as one more error would have meant nil points for either side. A couple of worthy mentions for actually playing football and that goes to Ryan Christie for a MotM performance. Great vision and touch from him and great energy from Danny Williams and a super goal to boot. And a special mention to Calum Ferguson as he made his first team debut before the end. Inverness CT 3-3 Kilmarnock Inverness CT: Esson, Raven, Shinnie, Warren, Meekings, Draper, Ross (Ferguson 74), Watkins, Tansey, Williams, Christie. Subs not used: Mackay (GK), Devine, Horner, Tremarco, Polworth, Sutherland. Kilmarnock: Samson, Barbour, Connolly (Syme 43), Johnston, Eccleston (Kiltie 79), Obadeyi, Slater, Westlake, O'Hara, Magennis, Pascali. Subs not used: Brennan (GK), Smith, Hawkshaw, Liddington. Referee - Steven McLean Crowd - 2912

Taxi For Christie 　 　 Visitors Kilmarnock arrive in Inverness on the back of an excellent couple of recent results, notably beating Dundee United last week with a last gasp winner. The Killie result was welcomed at Inverness as it kept Dundee United off our backs in the meantime as we opened up a six point gap over the Arabs, albeit having played a game more than the Taysiders. Inverness continued their fine form with another win at Paisley. Their current theme of getting ahead comfortably then hanging on somewhat was evident once more. A first half that saw numerous chances go abegging was almost undone as St Mirren fought back to get a foothold in a game that should have been beyond them at half time. However, we are also fairly resillient this season and goals by Greg Tansey and Ryan Christie were good enough to beat the Buddies who scored through Jim Goodwin. Iain Auld thrust a dishevelled looking mic towards Ryan Christie at a blustery Caledonian Stadium and asked the young star about his return to the side.......................... . Inverness are now undefeated in seven league games, winning six and drawing the derby clash with County. We are on 51 points, 19 ahead of 8th place Kilmarnock. Whilst not amongst the top five scoring sides, our defensive record has been the backbone which our season has revolved round, only Aberdeen and Celtic have better goals against. The Ayrshire side are well clear of the relegation battle just now and are looking to get into the top six. Their form has been rather erratic thus far, hence their mid-table position, showing only five wins. Three of Killies five wins have come on the road, at Ross County, St Mirren and St Johnstone. Since we last played Killie, they found out that 'Magic' Johnston was not magic after all and relieved him of his duties with another former Jambo, Gary Locke the man they have put their trust in just now. Locke's first game in charge was a nil nil draw at Hamilton, followed by last weeks excellent win over the Arabs, so his tenure has got off to a great start, and that could be the catalyst they have been looking for. 　 Killie lost Robbie Muirhead to Dundee United, a move that sparked Johnston's withdrawal from his post. They acquired Nathan Ecclestone after he was released by Partick Thistle, the striker becoming a journeyman at the tender age of 24, having turned out for Huddersfield, Charlton, Coventry and Blackpool, as well as the Harry Wraggs. James Vincent misses out with a hamstring injury. Man of the moment Aaron Doran has sought specialist help over a groin problem, while goalkeeper Dean Brill and captain Richie Foran remain out. That will give Ryan Esson another turn in goal, and Ryan Christie will be looking to get another start after scoring last week. Marley Watkins is coping with being the main threat although it's not his forte, but is getting great support from the rest of the team. A bonus for Inverness is the news that Alexei Eremenko is suspended, adding to a couple of injuries that Locke is keeping close to his chest. 　

West side story 　 　 Inverness are on the road again with a day out at Paisley to visit struggling St Mirren on Saturday. That will be our fourth trip to the wild west in a month, having also toured Maryhill, New Douglas Park and the scheme down Kilmarnock way. All wins, incidentally. The Buddies are having a torrid time of it but that does not mean this will be an easy ride for Inverness as they will now be scrapping for every point available to help them climb away from the relegation battle with County and Motherwell. Inverness received a massive boost late in the week. Not the news that 50 shades of Grey was being shown at the cinema, but when Josh Meekings signed on for another two years. Josh has been a mainstay at the heart of our defence over the last couple of seasons and his partnership with Gary Warren is one of the reasons our defence is normally pretty miserly. Still a young lad with plenty of pace and power he will certainly gain more by staying at Inverness for another couple of seasons before heading on to pastures new. Great investment by the club. Another bit of good news, and I say this with some trepidation is that Yogi has been named Manager of the Month for January. That accolade normally brings with it a curse and we will be watching with interest to see if it affects Inverness. This season we seem to be poles apart in terms of quality and teamwork, certainly the league table will vouch for that. However, we do have something in common. St Mirren lost top scorer Kenny McLean to Aberdeen during the January sales and at the same time Billy Mckay went to Wigan. We have played St Mirren four times already this season. A 0-1 league win in October was followed by a draw at the same venue in the Scottish Cup. The replay up North saw Inverness win comfortably by 4-0, but the league game in January was a much tighter affair which Inverness won 1-0, thanks to a Billy Mckay goal, (where is he when you need him?). St Mirren have failed to win a single home game in the league so far this season, although they did manage to beat Dunfermline Athletic in a league cup game in August. 20 goals for and 41 against sees them sit second bottom of the table whereas third placed Inverness can boast 35 goals for and only 22 goals conceded. St Mirren added a couple of players in the transfer window, attacking midfielders Emmanuel Sonupe from Spurs academy, and Kieran Sadlier, an Irish u21 international. Both could feature at some stage this weekend and Yohaan Arquin returns after suspension. Inverness will have to do without Richie Foran and Dean Brill, and a similar starting line up to last week is anticipated. A new name for the injured list is Aaron Doran who has a groin strain. Prediction for this one is another narrow win for Inverness to pile on the woe for the Buddies.

Aerosol Day It's a week where some olde relics were dug up at Drumnadrochit, and I don't mean Johndo, Johnboy, Scarlet Pimple and Mantis, and it's almost to the day of that famous Scottish Cup win over Celtic that Inverness travel to Glasgow to do battle in the Cup once more. The task this time is just as daunting as we play the team that has turned us over twice already this season. It's Nemesis time as we go to Firhill to take on the Maryhill Magyars. Maryhill Magyars I hear you youngsters say. That name was attached to the side in the heyday of Ferenc Puskas, the great Hungarian footballer of the fifties and along with the Harry Wraggs is one of the finest nicknames in Scottish Football. It would appear that when they play us, they revert to type and have dished out two Goulashings scoring seven goals and even had the luxury of missing a penalty. We have played Partick five times in The Cup, two of those being replays, and have only progressed to the next round once, a 3-0 victory in January 2009. In saying that, Partick have only won one of these games over the allotted time when a Scott Paterson goal on a horrendously wet night in March 2002 saw them into the draw for the Semi-Final. Looking more like a member of Oasis, he scored a fantastic free kick from thirty yards to win the game for the Jags and set up a clash with a now reduntant side called Rangers. Our last outing saw us struggle on the heavy turf at the Caledonian Stadium, adding to the Billy Mckay hangover which resulted in a frustrating draw with Ross County in the Highland derby. Partick fared even worse, going down 1-0 to local rivals St Mirren in an equally scrappy affair at Firhill. That results show Inverness sitting level on points with Aberdeen having played a game more and Partick some twenty two points behind us in ninth place. Recent results in the league will tell us that we have won five of our last six games. Partick have only one win and two draws out of six. The smart money would go on Inverness you would think. However, the form book goes out the window now as the Cup is a whole different ball game as they say. The transfer window came and went and Inverness were only window shopping it would seem, the only activity being Billy Mckay's outward bound trip to Wigan. Partick were proactive in the market and added Rangers defender Ryan Finnie until the end of the season. Calum Booth the Hibs midfielder was also added to the squad but the big scoop was the re-signing of Lyle Taylor on loan for the season. He scored 7 goals in 20 games for the Harry Wraggs last season and will be a major boost for them. Nathan Ecclestone has left the Firhill building by mutual consent. Inverness' Dean Brill is unlikely to be risked after his knee injury and Ryan Esson will continue in goal. the back four will be the same, but it's in midfield and attack where we have many options, depending on the strategy employed by Yogi. Marley Watkins looks likeliest to continue in the strikers role, and the fans would like to see Ryan Christie as his assistant. Danny Williams put in a good shift last weekend and should retain his starting berth. Tansey and Draper will provide the steel, and the rest is up for debate, with Ross, Doran and Vincent in the running for the providers position. Partick are keeping team selections close to their chest, but they do have the knack of beating us, so maybe they won't change much from the start. However, Lyle Taylor could get a game, which is more than the injured Sean Welsh or the suspended Jordan McMillan. So, an entertaining cup game to look forward to as Inverness continue with life after Billy. But wait, there's a downside to all this. Willie Collum is back after his break from refereeing proper games. He was stood down for a few weeks due to his incompetence, but will be in charge tomorrow. I believe they are also introducing the invisible white aerosol spray used in the world cup. I wonder if he sprays himself would he disappear. Just a thought. tm4tj prediction:- Strange as it may sound, but I'm taking Inverness to get into the next round, maybe with the aid of a replay up North. If we can cope with Partick's high pressing game and feed Watkins, then it's possible to get a result. A word of warning though. This is just my opinion, so don't rush down to the bookies and put loads of money on an away win.

Life after Billy 　 It's derby day on Saturday and Inverness have been dealt a couple of hammer blows in the last week with the news that Graeme Shinnie is off to Aberdeen at the end of the season. It get's even worse with Billy, small K Mckay signing a two and a half year deal at English Championship club Wigan Athletic. Whilst Shinnie is still around for the foreseeable future, Mckay has been bought for around £150k plus and will be a big miss for the Inverness club as we look to build on five straight wins, a run that started at New year with a 3-1 win in Dingwall. Our opponents are trying desperately to gather enough points to steer clear of relegation, but it's eleven games since County last tasted victory. It's not only transfers that have upset the apple cart. Dean Brill was stretchered off at the end of the Hamilton game. The early prognosis was that he had damaged his knee on landing and at the time it looked as though he might have to sit out a few games. The good news is that Ryan Esson will be an able deputy should he be required to play against County. Inverness hold the upper hand this year over our neighbours. The first game at our stadium ended in stalemate, a 1-1 draw. It was the proverbial game of two halves, and two keepers really. Dean Brill pulled off a handful of excellent saves in the first half but was helpless to stop Yoann Arquin opening the scoring. County could have been out of sight by the break, but the second half belonged to Inverness. Marley Watkins levelled early in the half but Mark Brown was in tremendous form to deny Inverness thereafter with a string of superb saves. Neither of these keepers look like making the game with Tony Reguero the favoured option at the moment for County and Brill nursing a sore knee. The second meeting saw County take a pounding from the eager Inverness forwards and a deserved 3-1 victory for the visitors in Dingwall flattered County somewhat. Aaron Doran does like a goal against the County and he scored twice before Jackson Irvine powered home a header. However outgoing striker Billy Mckay scored a sublime third for Inverness to settle the game with seventeen minutes left and that ended County's hopes of a comeback. The transfer window has been kinder to County though and this will be a whole new ball game. Defender Cameron Burgess has signed from Fulham, along with Marcus Fraser, a 20 year old from Celtic. So that's two young central defenders to help shore up the Staggies suspect defence. The have also acquired Darvydas Sernas, a Lituanian international midfielder with 35 caps. He is an experienced player having plied his trade across Europe and Australia. Striker Craig Curran has signed until the end of the season from Nuneaton Town looking to add some much needed fire power. Another plus for County is that the lackadaisical Arquin has been sent packing. He lasted only 33 minutes of the New Year derby before being hooked by a less than impressed Jim McIntyre. His first role as a St Mirren player was to get sent off against County in the relegation six pointer, but that was not enough to help County out as the ten man Buddies scored a late winner to pile on the misery in Dingwall. Latest Team News for Inverness is a tad worrying. Dean Brill and Marley Watkins could be out and the possibility of Inverness carrying on without Billy Mckay is a matter of concern. The positives are that Ryan Christie may well get the opportunity to shine in an advanced position and Aaron Doran will be looking to start, along with the new improved version of Nick Ross. The Staggies will be boosted by the new additions to their squad as they look to scramble their way off the foot of the table. Jackson Irvine and Terry Dunfield return after missing the defeat by Celtic. It has been a hectic week for Inverness and Yogi has made a feature length film to update us on some of the goings on at the Caledonian Stadium tm4tj prediction:- More difficult than normal to get this one right with County having additional staff and us in the process of losing two influential players. That could have a detrimental effect on our performance, but when Mckay had a lean spell, others were chipping in and we need that to happen again. Great to see Nick Ross adding a goal to his recent promising displays and Marley Watkins is another that knows what it feels like to score in this derby. Aaron Doran seems to keep his best for these games and will be an important player, let's hope he can manage another this Saturday. Another loss could see them slip further behind St Mirren and that will give them the incentive to be in our face this Saturday. Maybe the new arrivals will upset any rhythm County have and that is only good for us, and with that in mind, I'll go for a home win, might be tight though. Take a look at how it all worked out in the two games earlier this season............