tm4tj

Defence versus attack at the top of the table A96 duty this Tuesday night for a 19:45 kick off at Pittodrie Stadium, home of the once famous Aberdeen Football Club. There has been a resurgence this season though, and a Jonny Hayes inspired Dons find themselves sitting just one point behind Celtic in second spot with 24 points. We are doing not so bad ourselves, handily placed just two points behind Aberdeen. Both clubs recorded excellent away wins last weekend. The Dons upstaging high flying Hibernian after Niall McGinn scored from a Hayes cross and Inverness recording their first SPL win at Parkhead thanks to a Billy McKay goal after good work by Phillip Roberts. Goals have been at a premium in Aberdeen. Only seven goals in seven games for the Dons, that's a goal a game, but less than that have been scored by the opposition, a meagre six goals against shows what the Dons new found success is built upon. In our favour, we have averaged two goals per game on our travels, but conceded twelve in seven contests. Aberdeen have only one loss at home and that was a couple of weeks ago to Celtic, with four draws and two wins. Inverness only show one away defeat at the hands of our nemesis, Motherwell, and three wins and three draws. The table is congested from first right down to the relegation spot before any significant gap is shown where Dundee are finding it difficult despite their recent relative successes. A win for any club could see them leap a few places in the league, similarly defeat can see you drop by three or four places. There is no margin for error this season. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness midfielder Ross Draper has been back training along with keeper Ryan Esson but neither player will be thrust into action unnecessarily ahead of the derby cup game at Dingwall next weekend. Nick Ross and Simon King are nearing returns, but Chris Hogg remains out and you can read the update on his road to recovery blog at http://chrishoggthefightback.blogspot.co.uk/ Aberdeen's Isaac Osbourne has been added to the injury list, and along with Clark Robertson, Ryan Fraser and Gavin Rae are unlikely to feature. Gary Naysmith, Stephen Hughes, Ryan Jack and Rob Milsom are all sidelined through injury. tm4tj Prediction:- Predicting the unpredictable is not easy as has been demonstrated by our last two results, but this one has a more familiar ring to it and I am looking for us to continue our scoring streak and the possibility of taking a point looks like the best option, so that's a scoring draw for me, 1-1. Mon the Caley Jags

Back to underdogs Inverness travel to Glasgow on Saturday to face Champions League contenders Celtic at Parkhead. After last weeks thrashing at the hands of a rampant Motherwell, Inverness return to the more familiar status of underdog. It was a bad day at the office last weekend as Motherwell brought Inverness' unbeaten run to an abrupt halt by capitalising on a lacklustre performance from the Highlanders who would not have looked out of place on the training ground. A similar session tomorrow could well see more records broken, however Terry Butcher will have other ideas and I'm sure the players will know where they stand. It will be a new experience for some of our squad, never having played at Parkhead before, but the recent winning visit to Ibrox will stand them in good stead for the challenge ahead. Our record at Parkhead is not the best, February eighth excepted. Other than that legendary cup win, we have only ever taken one point away from there. Our worst result in thirteen SPL games in the East End was a 5-0 hammering, and given last weeks slump against Motherwell then it's not looking too promising for us. We are, of course, big underdogs for this one and the element of surprise could work in our favour, but I won't be holding my breath. Anything you take away from Parkhead is a bonus, even keeping the deficit down can be challenging. Celtic have had some lapses at home this season though, dropping points to Hibs and St Johnstone and taking nothing from the visit of Kilmarnock. They did, however, fare slightly better against some Spanish club called Barcelona, a team littered with superstars, but as has been shown, their return to domestic football after midweek games seems to throw Celtic off kilter and therein lies our best chance of upsetting the odds. Ross Draper was sadly missed against the Well and I'm afraid he is out again still suffering from an ankle knock he suffered against Killie. Gavin Morrison was included from the start last week, but it was a difficult game to judge him on as nobody turned up to play leaving him struggling to cope along with the rest of the midfield. Phillip Roberts was rested after a promising start to his Inverness career, but he could come back into contention given the inept display against Well. Reguero made a couple of gaffes last week but was also responsible for keeping the score in single figures although he will need more help than he got from his back four if we want to take something from the game. Auldy Boy chats to Terry before the daunting visit to Parkhead ***Latest Team News*** Ross Draper is out again along with the usual suspects, Simon King (ankle), Chris Hogg (knee), Nick Ross (shoulder) and Ryan Esson (hip). Celtic defenders Thomas Rogne and Kelvin Wilson are suffering from flu, (so were most of the Motherwell team allegedly). Emilio Izaguirre and James Forrest remain out and Joe Ledley is a doubt with a groin injury. Scott Brown is down to be in the squad despite his ongoing hip injury. tm4tj Prediction:- I don't believe we are capable of upsetting the odds here, but I would be happy with an improved performance from the shambles of the Motherwell fiasco. A few players will be out to prove a point, and a point would be much appreciated. That might be our best hope, although we have upset the applecart before and we are more dangerous when our backs are against the wall. I would bite your arm off if you offered me a point before the game, it may be too much for us though so let's just keep the goal difference down to a minimum. Predicting an ICT result is like trying to win the lottery, but I am going for a 3-0 defeat to end our run of scoring in every game this season, whilst hoping for a return to playing football and snatching a point in a scoring draw.

Well or no Well Motherwell are next up in Inverness for Sunday brunch in a 12:45 kick off at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium this weekend. Stuart McCall feels his squad are ill prepared for this encounter. That will be due to the flu bug being rife in the area which has affected a number of his players. The Motherwell gaffer revealed that training sessions were cut short as his squad were dropping like flies leaving him with only four fit players at one point. So, it looks as though he will be missing some of his regulars, but he will not know who will be fit enough until nearer the day. In the first game this season, Motherwell ran out 4-1 winners, a scoreline that flattered them somewhat, but it's goals that count and a Higdon hat-trick went a long way to securing the points. That, along with a tremendous display from keeper Darren Randolph saw Inverness slump to their second four goal loss in successive SPL games and things were looking bleak. However, that was nine SPL games ago and Motherwell were the last side to beat us as we embarked on an unbeaten run and a mini goal spree whilst the defence has been more frugal of late. It's been a good spell for Inverness since the beginning of September. Beating Ross County in that first historic Highland SPL derby and progressing to the semi-final of the League Cup after beating The Rangers at Ibrox. The Scottish Cup pairing us with our Dingwall Shadows has amplified the rising optimism in the camp and the icing on the cake was the inclusion of Andy Shinnie and Billy McKay in their respective international squads. Add to that a stunning first goal for Owain Tudur-Jones last week and news that Inverness are looking to extend deals with their top players then it's a good time to be an ICT fan. Motherwell started the season reasonably well until the week after beating Inverness when they won 1-2 at Dens Park. Since then, they have only one win in seven, but that was an impressive away win at Perth. Only five points in the last seven games is not the best of form for the Steelmen. Compare that to Inverness' run over the same period where we have amassed fifteen points then we will be seen as favourites for this one. Not our most comfortable position, but results will dictate this and our confidence should be on a high. We disappointed somewhat last week at home to Hearts when we dominated the opening stages but failed to convert the chances that came our way, and as is so often the case these missed opportunities came back to haunt us as Hearts equalised late in the day to agitate the manager who took his frustration out on the plasterboard in the changing rooms. There is a bit of a traffic jam developing in the SPL with teams queuing up behind Inverness to get into the European spot. This will be a great opportunity for Inverness to create some breathing space and go back to third, but on the other hand, Well will be looking to jump above their hosts should they be victorious. It's as tight as a ducks bahoochie in there. StattoMann tells us that this SPL fixture at Inverness has seen Motherwell come out on top eight times. Surprisingly Inverness have only won three games and even more surprising is the fact there has only been one draw in the SPL fixtures up North. This fixture has always produced goals, and there has been plenty of them from both sides. Both clubs have recorded 3-0 wins but the highest aggregate was a 3-2 triumph for Motherwell in October 2011 in a topsy turvy game where Inverness had been reduced to ten men with Chris Hogg being sent off. David Davis opened the scoring but Shaun Hutchinson levelled before the break. Andy Shinnie nudged Inverness ahead before Lasley fired a long range effort home a minute later and Tom Hateley made the most of Chris Hogg's sending off by rubbing salt into the wound from the resultant free kick with a deflected strike to steal the points. Good game but not the result we want to see repeated. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness midfielder Ross Draper has still not shaken off the ankle knock he sustained at Rugby Park. He is the only recent injury on top of the long term casualties of Chris Hogg, Simon King, Nick Ross and Ryan Esson, who has a hip injury. Motherwell's Shaun Hutchinson had a positive training session on Friday and could be considered for selection but Steven Saunders remains out. The rest of the squad will be assessed on Saturday to see how the flu bug has affected them. tm4tj Prediction:- After the frustration of watching the team let Hearts back into the game last week, I am looking for greater things here and a good reaction from the same players who disappointed last week. We have rapidly become accustomed to seeing our side create and score plenty goals and if we can get ahead then punish the opposition instead of handing them the initiative then we could get back on track. However, Motherwell are one of the more attractive playing sides and have the players to do damage to you. The likes of Higdon and Murphy spring to mind, backed up by one of the top keepers in the league, Randolph, then it could be a close game. But, we don't do predictability, so I am going for 3-1 to the home side. Mon the Caley Jags