tm4tj

Third division newbies looking for cup shock It's League Cup action on Wednesday night as Inverness face the team formerly known as Rangers in the quarter finals of the trophy at Ibrox. Having already taken out first division Falkirk and SPL side Motherwell, The Rangers will be looking for another scalp in the shape of Inverness Caledonian Thistle, whose progress to the quarters has been rather low key with away victories over Arbroath and a penalty shoot-out against Stenhousemuir. The Rangers have done pretty well since gaining admission to the bottom tier in Scotland's leagues and have now moved to the top of division three after only nine games, finding themselves above the mighty Elgin City and Queens Park, although they were beaten recently by bottom club Stirling Albion. However, they failed to claim the scalp of second division Queen of the South in the Ramsdens Cup, losing out on penalties, but they did win last weeks Glasgow derby aganst Clyde when goals from Dean Shiels and Lee McCulloch sealed the points for the Ibrox club. Inverness, on the other hand, have tottered along in the SPL becoming one of the highest scoring sides in Scotland, despite also having one of the leakiest defences, although they have tightened up at the back in recent weeks. Unbeaten in their last seven games and with only two defeats this season, Inverness can feel pretty smug with their business so far. It's been an encouraging start to the season and the team seem to be settling down after some early slackness and the goals have flowed in every game so far. What can we expect from this game? It would be foolish for Inverness fans to believe that we will roll over The Rangers with ease, given the disparity in the leagues. Make no mistake, the Ibrox side are still using players that would fit into most SPL sides and the removal of Motherwell from this competition in the last round shows that they will be a force on the park, if not quite so efficient in the boardroom and the bank managers office. So I imagine that The Rangers will be out to show the rest of Scottish Football that they are still a big club ............... maybe not as big as Gregory Tade's Perth, but nonetheless big enough to handle the Highlanders, and that is why they will still be favourites in most peoples eyes to progress into the semi-finals and a possible match with another Glasgow side. I see that Celtic thrashed St Johnstone in Tuesday nights game 5-0, and Aberdeen went into extra-time with St Mirren, Magennis equalising in the ninety second minute to make it 2-2, but the Buddies went on to win the penalty shoot out by 4-2 ***Latest Team News*** Inverness have no fresh injury worries, but captain Richie Foran remains sidelined. Chris Hogg, Simon King and Nick Ross are all long term injury victims. Butcher has a choice to make for the keepers jersey with Esson back to fitness, but Reguero will be difficult to shift. Shane Sutherland and Gavin Morrison will be pushing for a start and Phillip Roberts could be rested with Conor Pepper waiting for his chance. Andy Shinnie is still searching for the two balls he fired high over the bar in the last game, let's hope he sets his sghts a bit lower on Wednesday night. Rangers defender Sebastien Faure will miss the League Cup quarter final against Inverness. Winger David Templeton is back in training after an ankle injury but is not back to full fitness yet. Spaniard Francisco Sandaza and Kane Hemmings remain out. tm4tj Prediction:- I would like to think that we could get into the next round of this competition, but Ibrox is not the easiest of grounds to attempt that. Our scoring record and tightening defence will be an asset, and I think we can do it, possibly needing extra-time and penalties, but we do have goal scorers around the park and let's hope we can keep that record going.

Somethings got to give With both clubs boasting consecutive wins totalling eight games then something is going to break this weekend as the two form teams meet at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium this Saturday. Inverness are not only on a three game winning run but they have scored eleven goals in the process whilst conceding two. That statistic shows that Inverness are the top scoring club in the SPL after the first ten games with 22 goals, and it was pleasing to see the young strikers continuing the trend at Dundee without seasoned captain Richie Foran in the side, scoring four times in an emphatic win at Dens Park. Billy McKay had the daunting task of replacing the injured Foran and he didn't disappoint with a brace, adding to an Andy Shinnie penalty and a close range strike from Gary Warren. We still have defensive deficiencies but as the season moves along we are becoming more resolute at the rear and a lot of that goes down to the endeavour of Gary Warren who is proving to be an astute acquisition by Butcher. Another plus has been the form of stand in keeper Antonio Reguero who pulled off a couple of top notch saves against Dundee when they were threatening to square the match before half time. One save in particular from the volley by Nish was simply outstanding. Nish met the ball square on as he swivelled fifteen yards from goal but Reguero matched the effort and pushed it away diving to his right. He also thwarted McAlister as he stole in at the back post to dive low and anticipated the sliding strike and kept the ball out. So, as well as being dubbed a tad eccentric, he has shown he has the qualities to earn his number one jersey and Ryan Esson may have a job prising it off his back on his return from injury. David Raven has received more than his fair share of stick when things were going wrong, so it's only fair to afford him some praise as his recent displays are a long way removed from his error strewn early games for ICT. It is of course, always easier to defend when your team are up the other end of the park scoring goals, but in general we do seem to have tightened it up although I would expect a more rigorous examination from a Tade fuelled Perth side on Saturday. Our visitors have once again shown that they are here to stay in the SPL and have reached the dizzy heights of second place as we head into this game. Their fantastic run of five wins on the trot has seen them surge up the division to nestle in behind Celtic at the top. The Super J's were second bottom on two points having just drawn 0-0 with Dundee United in a Tayside derby after five games, but it shows what a wee run and a bit of confidence gives you. The winning run started with a superb 2-1 home win over Celtic. They followed that up by ending County's forty game unbeaten run at Dingwall by the same scoreline and then beat Dundee away 3-1. Two home wins against St Mirren and Kilmarnock, both 2-1 and hey presto, second in the league and a record equalling SPL run for the Perth side. Back to 1971 since they achieved that, so a team on form and a stern test for Inverness this week. St Johnstone have brought in some excellent players of late and one man familiar with us is talismanic striker Gregory Tade. He can be a real handful for defenders on his day and David Raven will have to be at his best to cope with his surging runs from deep. He can also misfire and he had his off days up here as well, missing many sitters and frustrating the fans, so fingers crossed. He somehow believes that moving to Perth is a step up in his career as he believes that they are a bigger club than Inverness. Well well Gregory, you have changed your tune and become high and mighty since turning your back on us. I think he is confusing the words bigger and better club with these words. More wages! Another goalscorer in form is former Saint Mirren striker Nigel Hasselbaink who is not shy at finding the net and he scored his third of the season against Killie. Midfielder Murray Davidson has also notched three goals this season. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness had a boost for last weeks game with Shane Sutherland returning to the action at Dundee and Ryan Esson will give Butcher another headache as he returns from injury, but Antonio Reguero has done nothing wrong in his three games and could retain the keepers jersey. Bad news for Richie Foran as he is expected to miss another couple of weeks and will miss out, along with Simon King, Chris Hogg and Nick Ross. St Johnstone welcome back Callum Davidson and David McCracken from recent knocks but Peter Pawlett is not fit along with Craig Beattie. Jamie Adam, Steven MacLean and Paddy Cregg are also out for this one. Gregory Tade may have a problem getting into the stadium as his head seems to have swollen excessively. We will have to wait till 16:50 on Saturday night to see if he is hot property or hot air. tm4tj Prediction:- They all seem to be tough ones to call nowadays, however, with both teams on fine form we are entitled to expect some goals and a fair smattering of entertainment. I'm looking for Inverness to squirm out of this one with a 3-1 win. Mon the Caley Jags.

Twelfth Night Footie It's off to the City of Discovery on Friday night to discover that Dundee are Team 12, and as it stands in the SPL Team 12 seems to be an appropriate title. It is however, early days, but at the moment, Dundee's minus thirteen goal difference tells me that they seem to be struggling to get to grips with life back in the SPL after the demise of Rangers which thrust them into the top flight at short notice. Another statistic shows that Dundee have only scored two goals at home in four games, all defeats, that's half a goal per game whilst conceding eight. On the plus side for Dundee, we have lost ten goals away from Inverness in three draws and a defeat, although we have scored seven times. We still have the leakiest defence in the league but we are also the top scorers and that is why we sit seven points above Team 12 after nine games. Plenty has happened in the last few weeks. Dundee have slumped to four successive defeats and their last points was an away victory against Hearts on the 2nd September. Since then they have shipped ten goals and scored two. They were also dumped out of the league cup by the Spiders from Hampden. Our season, on the other hand, just got a whole lot brighter with two draws and two wins, a 4-0 thumping of Tayside neighbours Dundee United and a magnificent 3-1 derby success over Ross County who remain in our shadows. Our recent upturn is no major surprise to our own fans as we have been playing enterprising football of late and the goals have continued to flow as the defence begins to tighten up after a somewhat shaky start to the campaign. It was great to see Aaron Doran get off the mark with a stunning volley against County after he has been guilty of spurning some guilt edged chances so far, but his strike in the enthralling derby encounter was a thing of beauty and that will give him the confidence to go on and score a few more. Captain Richie Foran has also been in fabulous form since his return from suspension and he has put away five goals already and looks hungry for more. He also produced a sublime finish in the United game with a brilliant effort from twenty yards across the keeper. Garry Warren and Ross Draper seem to be settling in nicely and with Andre Blackman departing swiftly, that leaves Graeme Shinnie on his own at left back, a more familiar position for the youngster. Inverness have also unearthed some marvellous young talent in Conor Pepper and Arsenal loanee Phillip Roberts. Both of these guys have scored spectacular goals and have pace and strength in abundance and for such young players show great maturity on the ball, able to pick a precision pass where others have failed in the past. Roberts has more food for thought as Inverness will offer him the chance to remain in the Highlands until the end of the season. He is currently on loan until January, but his form has caught the eye of Butcher and the fans and he will be a welcome addition for the rest of the season. Things are definitely looking up for Inverness, but we must not underestimate the task ahead as Barry Smith will be desperate to stop the rot and where better than in front of their own fans at a ground Inverness have not always produced the goods. In fact we have never won at Dens Park in five attempts and if you add in the cup defeats at Hampden and Perth then our record away from Inverness against Dundee is very poor indeed. That Challenge Cup Final at McDiarmid Park was particularly hard to take having forged 2-0 ahead with goals from Adam Rooney and Naurus Bulvitus before the break. Bulvitus had the misfortune to score Dundee's first just after half time and Harkins and Forsyth completed the comeback for the Taysiders, but not before Dougie Imrie was needlessly sent off for a petulant lunge at Pat Clarke; abject misery for Inverness and euphoria for the Dundee following. We were, however, able to exact some revenge when we overturned Dundee's seemingly unassailable 15 point lead to romp home in the promotion race at the first time of asking in 2010, which brings us to where we are now, both clubs back in the SPL and an evening kick off, 19:45 at Dens Park. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness boss Terry Butcher has a major doubt for this fixture as on form captain Richie Foran suffered a knee injury in the local derby and is being monitored closely, but it looks as though he is fighting a losing battle. Should he not make the squad then Shane Sutherland may replace him although Pepper, Roberts and McKay will be above him in the pecking order after recent striking performances. Gavin Morrison again showed he is well capable at this level when called upon although Owain Tudur-Jones played well in the derby. Ryan Esson is still suffering, but he is back training and our eccentric Spaniard Antonio Reguero will continue in goal if Esson fails a fitness test. Chris Hogg (knee), Simon King (ankle) and Nick Ross (shoulder) are all targeting a return around the end of the year. Dundee gaffer Barry Smith has blamed individual errors for his teams slow start to life back in the SPL and will be looking for a tighter defensive performance from his team. One man escaping the blame is experienced veteran keeper Rab Douglas who has been in remarkable form recently with an outstanding display at Parkhead almost single handedly defying Celtic for long spells. Dundee physio Karen Gibson has been just as busy over the last few weeks and Davide Grassi returned against Hibs although he may need time to get up to speed. Lewis Toshney is struggling to make this one with an ankle problem. Stephen O'Donnell (hamstring), Mark Stewart (knee), Carl Finnigan (knee) and Jamie McCluskey (Achilles) are all out. tm4tj Prediction:- On paper this will read to be an easy game for Inverness. Unfortunately, games are not played on paper and with Dundee seeking to kick-start their season this is a much tougher fixture than at first glance. With Richie Foran looking as though he will miss out, then the onus on Inverness to score will rest on very young shoulders and we may have to be content with a share of the points. If we can keep our goals record going then a scoring draw is on the cards, failing that I would be more than happy with a narrow win. Mon the Caley Jags