tm4tj

Ton Up for Cup visit. ***Game On*** Scottish Cup 5th round action this weekend as Inverness play host to Greenock Morton. Inverness left it late in the last round before seeing off a stubborn Elgin City with two goals after the ninety minutes had passed. Dani Sanchez and Adam Rooney were the late scorers in time added on, and that saw Inverness progress to this stage of the national competition. That victory was a break from the rigours of the SPL for an Inverness side without a home league victory since struggling Hibs came calling in November. Inverness have asked for a pitch inspection at 08:00 on Saturday morning ahead of this game as the weather has been unrelenting since the postponement of the Dundee United game in midweek. An early inspection should save most fans from making unnecessary journeys if game should be called off. Inspection carried out this morning and it is game on. Well done to Tommy and his team who have worked extremely hard to get the pitch ready for this game. Morton forced their way into the fifth round at the second time of asking by defeating Airdrie United 2-5 at the Shyberry Excelsior Stadium, the first match in Greenock ending in a 2-2 draw. Morton came back from the dead in the first game after Airdrie had stormed into a two goal lead just after half time. Brian Graham quickly reduced the deficit and a couple of minutes later the Ton were reduced to ten men with Marc Smyth being sent off. However, Morton stunned Airdrie ten minutes later with an equaliser from Stewart Kean. In the replay in Airdrie, Morton went nap, ending Airdrie's interest in the competition with a comprehensive 2-5 cuffing. Morton had raced into a 0-4 lead before eventually securing their trip North. Alan Jenkins scored a double to add to goals from O'brien, Graham and a Monti penalty. In the previous round, Morton eased past Dumbarton 1-2 after coming from behind. A brace from Brian Graham being enough to win this tie. Morton also finished this game with ten men, so beware if the ref flashes his red card in their direction. In our last season in the first division, we managed to beat Morton in all four games. Three of these games were won in convincing style, but last March, we huffed and puffed our way to a single goal victory over the Ton. The scorer on that occasion was none other than Nick Ross, who has since come on in leaps and bounds, but strangely enough that has been his only goal for Inverness. Inverness scored ten goals against Morton last season and conceded only one, that coming in a 4-1 defeat at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium in October. Another odd statistic is that in November 1999, Morton thumped Inverness 5-1 at Cappielow on a friday night, but only two months later Inverness went one better up North and hammered Morton 6-2, these games being the two highest aggregate scores between the two clubs. Morton will field former Caley Thistle favourite Stuart McCaffrey in the heart of their defence. Caff played over 160 games for ICT and won promotion with us the first time round. On leaving Inverness, he has played at St Johnstone before signing on at Cappielow in July 2010 on a free transfer after a season plagued with injuries at Perth. Stuart's finest moment in the Scottish Cup came on a certain February evening at Parkhead, when supercaleywentballistic, great memories for a great servant at Inverness. Another man familiar with this area is keeper Colin Stewart, who tried to keep the ball out of the County net for a while. No easy task. The Ton are on a bit of a roll at the moment, with Dundee being the only team to beat them in the last nine games. Last weekend they beat local side Ross County 2-1 after going behind before half time. Draws with Raith and Partick and a win over the Pars mean that Morton will be no push-overs in this game, and are not afraid to have a go after losing the first goal. Given Inverness' poor home record, then Morton fans have every right to feel confident of at least taking this tie back to Greenock to settle it, especially as Jonny Hayes looks like missing this one. With the midweek SPL game against Dundee United called off two and a half hours before kick off, it begs the question how well will the pitch stand up to the horrendous weather thrown at it in the last twenty four hours? Let's hope that a decision will be made long before any travelling fans require to leave for the game. It's not a common feature of football in Inverness being called off due to the condition of the pitch, but since the SPL criteria of insisting that we installed undersoil heating, the spiking of the surface to enhance the drainage has been less efficient due to the depth of the heating system, thus making it more prone to surface water. Award winning groundsman, Tommy Cumming, will no doubt do his best to keep the games coming, but sometimes the winter weather can be too harsh, even for Tommy. Ginger Jaggy has also put together a brief preview for this cup game, it just goes to show that great minds do think alike. On Saturday (Weather permitting ha-ha) we welcome 1st division outfit Greenock Morton to the Caledonian Stadium for a place in the quarter final of Scottish Cup. This year's cup competition looks like it will be as wide open as it was last season with a guaranteed elimination of one of the Old Firm in Sunday's clash at Ibrox. This could be our year to make a charge to Hampden. The dream of returning to Hampden after our last appearance in 2004 against Dunfermline at the semi stage is still a little way in the horizon as we first must defeat Morton and then win a potential quarter final. Bit of Information on our opponents Greenock Morton survived in the first division last year as we went on to become champions and promoted to where we are now. Morton has been in decent form of late and is in a comfortable mid table position. They recently beat our highland neighbours Ross county at Cappielow coming from behind to win 2-1 last weekend. They have only suffered one defeat in their last six matches in the league losing 1-0 at home to Dundee. They have had some impressive results in that period taking points off league leaders Raith Rovers away and Dunfermline at home. But this recent good run of form has stretched back from the tail end of November with a lot of scheduled games being hit by the winter weather through the Christmas and New Year period. Looking at their squad they have a few experienced players who have been around the Scottish circuit. One name that jumps out is defender Stuart McCaffrey who was a pivotal member of our first title winning team way back in 2004. The defender made over 150 appearances for us winning a 1stdivision medal and a Challenge Cup medal in six brilliant years with the club. Other names in the squad include Darren Young who made his name at Aberdeen and Dunfermline even though his career has been plagued by injury. Cup Form The boys have not won in ten competitive league matches but we did manage to win our Scottish cup 4th round tie against neighbours Elgin City at home in that time; even if only just. In a cup tie that we were clear favourites against our part time rivals we only just snuck through in the final minutes after being given a few scares. Elgin managed to create a few decent chances and almost won the tie outright missing a near open goal. It was forgotten man Dani Sanchez who scored a cracking volley when time had moved into injury time. Thankfully that goal gave Dani his chance to play in the SPL as many fans had been calling for. Elgin, heartbroken then conceded a second from Adam Rooney and we moved into this round even if not as comfortable as some fans had thought. Morton entered the cup in the round earlier than us winning 2-1 away from home at 2nd division club Dumbarton. In the 4th round they entertained another 2nddivision club Airdrie United. The original tie had been postponed due to the weather. The game was rearranged for the 18thof February the date of terry Butcher's priceless rant at the SPL. The game ended 2-2 with Caithness born Gary McKay Steven getting on the score line for the Diamonds. 2-2 was actually a decent result for Morton who were 2-0 down at home and facing elimination. The replay a week later at the impressive Excelsior Stadium saw Morton run out comfortable winners, winning 5-2. Gingerjaggy cup prediction It has been a hard time for all our supporters. We have been on a very poor run since the euphoria of our away run in 2010. No win in 10 has only been bettered by Hibs and Hamilton who are at the bottom of the league. But I think we have reached the light at the end of the tunnel. The window is shut now and Rooney can now concentrate on getting back to the form that earned him so much coverage. The two new lads look like they will add a bit of strength to a small squad and our last performance against Aberdeen was very good even with the one man disadvantage we faced for a long period of the match. There is a very good chance that we can produce a decent cup run and find ourselves at Hampden for at least a semi final if the draw is kind to us. Morton though cannot be underestimated and I don't think we will, like we did a few years ago, where we let home advantage slip by only drawing 1-1 at home to Partick and then losing the replay on pens. Terry will want to win as many games to gain some momentum as we push for the top six and a good cup run will do no harm. I am saying that we will win this one 2-0 with a good performance to add. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness have another late withdrawal to add to the list of Hayes, Gillet, Morrison and veteran Roy McBain. Under 21 prospect Nick Ross has an ankle knock and will miss this game along with the u21 camp next week. Opportunities abound for the January signings to stake a claim for SPL starts, with Hogg, Doran and Macdonald raring to go. Lee Cox is also ready for battle, and Jonny Tuffey may get the obligatory call to play in goals in the cup games. Grant Munro is suspended after his red card against Aberdeen, but Ross Tokely will not begin his suspension until possibly the St Mirren game. Morton are not forthcoming with much team news yet, but their last squad for the Ross County game was as follows :- Stewart, MacGregor, Smyth, McCaffrey, McKinlay, Kean, Jenkins, Tidser, O'Brien (Monti 60), Lyle (Holmes 87), Graham (Weatherson 57). Subs Not Used: Cuthbert, Bachirou. Darren Young is trying desperately to be ready for this cup game after seven weeks out with an achilles problem, picked up in a bounce game against Rangers. Peter Weatherson is still a couple of weeks away from full fitness, although he can contribute greatly from the bench. He has featured in the last four matches, most notably scoring an equaliser against Raith with a free kick. Derek Lyle who joined from Hamilton last month will be one to watch, having scored twice in the last two games for the Cappielow side.

********GAME OFF******** Davie is a poet, and he didnae know it. But McGonagall had the last laugh. Ach Davie, it's anither disaster Ye couldnae write it ony faster It looks as though yer prose' is in vain An all because oh this feckin rain But ne'er mind it saves ye's losin Cos the Arabs wid hae gein ye a doin Tae the teuchters and all the Irish too Eh think we'd hae triumphed, 1 tae 2 But next time I'm up a'm goin tae see The North's finest poet, it's HeilanDee It's just such a pity his team were deducted Twenty five points, it's what was instructed Dundee United are next up for Inverness this Wednesday evening with a 19:45 kick off. United have closed the gap on Inverness with only goal difference separating the sides on 29 points, although United have four games in hand over the men from the North. With no wins in ten now for Inverness, only Hibs and Hamilton can beat that, and that is the reason that they are at the foot of the table. United saw off the city slackers on Sunday with a crushing 3-0 win over Calderwood's hapless Hibees. Goals from Daly, Conway and Russell cofined Hibs to their fifth straight defeat and 634 minutes without scoring a goal. Playing only one game in December due to the wonderful Scottish weather, United are now left with a bit of catch up to do. They have played less games than everyone else but now find themselves in the top six after their unbeaten run has seen them crawl in behind ICT. United's recent form is almost the reverse of ICT's run. Nine games without defeat in the SPL for the Arab's, add to that two cup games against our old feeder team from the quaint market town of Dingwall and you have a team on the up after a slow start to the season. Our excellent early season form saw us fly out of the blocks to thump United in the second game of the season. A resounding 0-4 scoreline gave us hope of bettering our best ever finish in the SPL, but recent events have seen us slump badly and our faint hopes of a top six place look to be under threat from all quarters, Hibs and Hamilton excepted. With the transfer window open, Terry Butcher has brought in a few new faces. Aaron Doran being the first and he made a substitutes appearance against the Dons last week, but the game was lost by then. Former Hibs captain Chris Hogg has signed on at Inverness until the end of the season and will be required to help out at the back with suspensions looming for red carded Grant Munro, and Ross Tokely who's accumulated points tally will see him miss some action soon. Nineteen year old Alex Macdonald has signed on loan from Burnley for the remainder of this season. He is already a Scotland u21 player with an eye for goal. Head to Head :- These two clubs have met nineteen times in the SPL. Of the nine games played in Inverness, the home side have only won twice with United winning three. There has also been two cup games in the Highlands and ICT won both. In terms of goals scored during the SPL encounters in the Sneck, the overall aggregate for these would be ICT 6-10 United. Only one no scoring draw would indicate that goals might be on order for Wednesday's game, and the highest tally in Inverness was a 1-3 victory for United on the 6th December 2008. The overall picture is brighter for Inverness who lead the scoring at Tannadice by 16 goals to 13, with three wins apiece, the highest aggregate being a 2-4 win in what was Brewster's first game as Arabs manager against Charlie Christie's men; sweet. The most goals scored in one game belongs to Inverness with 4, twice at Tannadice. However, this is a home game for Butcher's lads and with goals at a premium in this particular home fixture, and given our recent scoring drought it looks to favour an away win in a tight game. A one time Arab in a previous life, CTO's very own davie found himself drawn into a war of words with a certain Mr McGonagall, a rather curious old fellow, a weaver, actor and infamous wordsmith. Like davie, McGonagall was misunderstood and his grasp of the English language left a lot to be desired, but it has withstood the test of time, and this preview is in honour of the bad Bard of Dundee, unlike davie, who was bad and barred from Dundee. In amongst this conversation, there is a preview, obscured by words, but trust me, read on, it's in there somewhere. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- William Topaz McGonagall sometime resided at Hawkhill Dundee in a ground floor tenement flat. It’s on the left as you go through the close, has high Victorian ceilings and not a bad line in cornice detail considering that this is Dundee and just along the road from the Tay Brig Bar. I noticed the cornices when I used to lie in my bed, musing on things. I lived in the same house, about 100 years after he did. “Nice hoose ye had here Willie” “Sir William to you boy, it wisnae so nice wi fourteen bairns and a wife and what do you want anyway?” “I know you’ve been deid for ages and all that, but what’s your favourite Dundonian thing if you don’t mind me asking?” “Fitba laddie, fitba. Ii’s the future and I’ve seen it from up here. The crowds, the noise and the good stewards, especially the ones at Tannadice. Nae publicans to throw peas at ye there. Grand.” “Don’t tell me yer a dark blue are ye? Publicans are always throwing things at them.” “Arab, you daft boy, through and through. I’m looking forward to meeting Jim MacLean soon, it must be near that time. He’s only lasted so long because he’s TT like me. I talk to Eddie Thompson a’ the time, he just wants another fight wi wee Jim. It should be fun; I think I might put it to verse” “Why an Arab, Sir Willie?” I ignored the offer of verse. “Do you know nothing boy? They used to be Dundee hibs, formed by Irish Labourers from Tipperary (“the tip” - part of Dundee, not great) and with a name like McGonagall, who else could I go for? Anyway, I like tangerine and they beat that Edinburgh hibs on sunday.” “What do you think of United just now?” “Ach, no bad. A bit like myself – never quite achieved the dizzy heights their undoubted talents merited, I could write about them so I could. But they’re getting there – they beat Ross County again you know and they have Irishmen playing for them” “So do we” “We?” “Inverness, Caleyjags and all that. You wrote about it once, and thanks for the County thing. Stayed in the Gellions if I remember, after some gig. You said at the time: Oh, magnificent city of Inverness, And your beautiful river, I must confess, With its lovely scenery on each side, Would be good for one's health there to reside¹. He looked shocked. "Surely there are no highlnders who could hold a candle to our Scots and Irishmen?" Little did he know. “Our Irishmen could beat yours you know” I said, sneaking in a challenge before he could recite the rest of that god awful poem. Whilst he spluttered away "You have Irishmen, how?" I told him: “Rooney is still here by some miracle and he can gub Garry Kenneth any day and wee Jonny looks like he could give Conway a run for his money. Richie Foran’s not quite firing on all cylinders but he’s good for this type of game and the new boy looks alright. Your full backs are toast.” His hand went up like a linesman’s flag: “Just let me write this son; the muse has got me! Rooney and Foran, Jonny and Doran, All in a line they are running and roamin’ Their skill is a dazzling, their strength is immense, All the way from Dublin to dear Inverness” Aye, right, I searched for anything to put him off, but couldn't figure how you put off a dead guy. “Willie, remember the last time we played you, what was the score?” We left it there, before my ears started to bleed and he tried to rhyme something with Goodwillie but he was in some ways right. It’s a strong spine to a team that has to come right soon even without Munro and Tokely. Proctor should get a chance to shine against his former employers and Lee Cox or Russell Duncan might come into contention to add bite. Our additional new boy MacDonald may feature at some point, especially if Adam escapes before the window shuts, that way he can get to know his fellow under 21 internationals Shinnie & Ross. Well done lads. United have no injury, suspension or selection worries betrayed by their website. In fact, their website betrays precious little. A long, long overdue home win please, cheers Willie. ¹ He actually wrote this! The heather blend club banquet, 1894. ---------------------------------------------------------- Thanks davie, I think I'll get Heilan Dee in to interpret this one. Maybe you could get him to write a song for us. tm4tj Prediction :- We are hoping that the Tay Bridge Disaster will turn into the Kessock Bridge Disaster for United, and Inverness can bury this dismal run of form, but I don't see anything to suggest that we are on the up. A better performance against the Dons left a bitter sweet taste in the mouth, with Munro red carded and Hayes injured again. On the sweet side, Rooney looked alert and was unlucky not to notch a goal or two, and Ryan Esson continues to perform heroics in goal. We may have to endure a share of the spoils, and it could all depend on Hayes, or no Hayes, that is the question. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness have held onto Adam Rooney through the transfer window, but with him being out of contract in the summer, he would be free to sign a pre-contract with any club. So three in, nobody out. Grant Munro is suspended after his curious red card against Aberdeen where Chris Maguire did his best to attract the ref's attention after some arm wrestling allegedly. Russell Duncan may be recalled with Duff surely filling the right back slot. This would leave Grant's space to be filled by either a semi-fit Hogg, or Innes, who has not endeared himself to the Caley Jags fans with some cumbersome performances. One other option would be to fit David Proctor along the back four somewhere. Plenty options now from midfield forward, with Doran, Macdonald, Eric, Dani, Sutherland, Ross, Foran and Hayes (if fit) all fighting over three or four places. Jonny Hayes looks like missing this one with the ankle knock sustained in the Aberdeen game. Dundee United have signed Timothy van der Meulen for the remainder of this season, providing international clearance is OK, he could be handed a place in the squad. He is a 20 year old defender who joins from Ajax, and is seen as a future prospect by Peter Houston. Danny Cadamarteri had left Tannadice by "mutual consent" after 18 months. Darren Dods, (machine), Paul Dixon and Scott Severin are all out, and Morgaro Gomis is rated as doubtful, which will make it a similar squad to the one that eased past Hibs at the weekend. As davie reported above, no new injury news from Tannadice, and we expect the same squad to face Inverness.

Off night for Grantie as ten man Inverness wilt. Not many outwith the secret society of referee's, male or female, know the answer to this one, but for some reason Grant Munro was sent off for what at this moment can only be described as an off the ball incident. The stand side lines person flagged the referee and after consultation, Munro was singled out as Maguire lay nursing his face on the edge of the Inverness box. Even Penn & Teller had to concede this one. Worse was to come as the half time cuppa brewed when Jack fired a ferocious shot off the underside of Esson's bar on the stroke of half time from one chain and a bit. Great strike, but harsh on Inverness who had started brightly with Hayes taking the game to Aberdeen. Shortly after half time Blackman turned the ball in with the aid of a deflection which left Esson flat footed, and it was game over. Inverness battled gamely, especially Adam Rooney who was unlucky on a couple of occasions after he fashioned out his own openings. This was a much improved performance from Inverness, but with the sending off of Grant Munro, it made the task much more difficult and in the end it proved to be just out of reach, despite a number of half chances for the home side to gain a foothold in the match. Adam Rooney was the target for most of the homesters attacks and with a bit of fortune he might have scored a couple of goals. Comeback man Jonny Hayes also shone brightly but the scything Aberdeen henchmen made it an early bath for him as well when he limped off injured in the second period. So, unfortunately, the stats will show that is ten games without a win, but this was a game that turned on a split second decision by the officials. A decent away support for a midweek game will no doubt go home happy that they close the gap on the top six, and Inverness will rue another home game without a point. 26th January 2011 Tulloch Caledonian Stadium INVERNESS CT 0 - TEAM: Esson, Tokely, Munro, Innes, Shinnie, Duff (Doran 82), Hayes (Odhiambo 73), Ross, Foran, Rooney, Sanchez (Proctor 46) SUBS: Tuffey, McBain, Duncan, Sutherland - Booked: none - Sent Off: Munro (18) ABERDEEN 2 - Jack (44), Blackman (49) TEAM: Langfield, McArdle, Diamond, Considine, Vujadinovic, Hartley, Jack, Milsom, Maguire (Young 75), Vernon (Magennis 65), Blackman SUBS: Howard, McNamee, Robertson, Pawlett, Paton - Booked: McArdle (38) Referee Steve Conroy Attendance 4468 Davie will unveil the full report when he gets home to warm up and reflect on another pointless exercise. And so it goes on. The run of 10 games without a win is becoming tedious and just a bit alarming. After the joy and verve of early season, how did it come to this? Last night's game went a long way to providing at least some answers to that. As the ambling preamble from TM4TJ said, the game opened brightly enough although it was obvious from kick off that these were a different prospect completely from the one that played under Mark McGhee. But we did start brightly, Chris Innes heading in a Jonny Hayes cross that was held by Langfield. Hayes was back to his impetuous best, turning Considine at will in the early stages although when he tried a carbon copy of his goal of the month strike (the rangers' one) it went out for a throw in. It wasn't long before the inevitable first foul arrived, but Hayes is resilient if nothing else. Hayes also tested Langfield with an on target drive, but there were also efforts from Aberdeen that pointed to this being a close game of not inconsiderable quality. The fact that this didn't happen was entirely due to Messrs. Conroy & Bee, who spotted something in the Caley Jags penalty area that involved Grant Munro and Chris Maguire and ended with Maguire on the turf. The linesman flagged for something and Munro saw red. The blatant simulation involved from the Aberdeen player was obvious from the outset, the referee was conned and Munro walked. Curiously, violent conduct (Munro allegedly punched him) is deliberate foul play but no penalty was awarded. It might as well have been as ICT then struggled to adapt to the new shape they were required to adapt to. TB had no arguments with the decision, but it seemed less than obvious from the North Stand. Aberdeen were still troubled to the extent that Blackman was booked for hoofing Hayes (again) before McArdle was punished for an appalling "tackle" on Graham Shinnie that was designed purely to injure. Mr Conroy could have redeemed himself there and then but chose not to, to his shame. He proved himself as yellow as the card he brandished. Just before the break Rooney, playing his best game in ages, missed narrowly, and right on 45 minutes JACK drifted into the space where Munro would have been and scored with a drive off the bar. He then launched into a singularly graceless and inflammatory celebration that should have seen him booked. That he wasn't was no surprise. Half time: Inverness CT 0 Aberdeen 1 Again, the half started brightly, with nearly all of ICT's chances falling to Rooney. Time and time again he fashioned chances, his hold up play was excellent as was his tackling. Missing Sanchez, who had been replaced by Proctor, his options around him had been sacrificed to expediency. His likewise immense work rate was obvious, but the fates conspired against him, and we were punished again after a missed chance resulted in a break up the field and a goal for BLACKMAN which sealed the game. That heads went down slightly was no surprise, but a goal back was never far away. Bickering replaced honest enjoyment in the stands and the game slipped away. That Hayes limped off after 73 minutes to be replaced by Odhiambo was no surprise, but no less depressing for that. There is little chance of him staying fit if other teams are allowed to literally kick him off the park as a counter to his skill. How Adam Rooney must have felt when Diamond cleared off the line after a slaloming run that had left everyone in his wake is beyond me, but it summed it up. There was a bright note as Inverness was treated to their first sight of another Irish winger, Aaron Doran. He showed enough to suggest it won't be their last sight. As the fight in Inverness receded, Ryan Esson showed again and again why Craig Levein should pay this boy some attention. One save, a one on one with Blackman, was sublime. Thanks again Ryan. Full time: Inverness CT 0 Aberdeen 2 MotM was Adam Rooney by a length from Ryan Esson. Low light was Richie Foran, again off the boil but struggling manfully. Villain was the referee, ably abetted by the stand side assistant and general irritation was provided by the local constabulary, videotaping all and sundry and earnestly pointing out people who appeared to commit no offence other than support their team. Roll on next Wednesday.

Oh no, not another home game. Wednesday evening has Craig Brown's rejuvenated Aberdeen come knocking on the door at Tulloch Caledonian Stadium looking for their share of cheap points from their over generous Highland cousins. The 19:45 kick off may take the edge off of the crowd figures, but these three points are crucial to Butcher's boys instant recovery after a run of dismal results akin to Aberdeens own shambolic opening quarter of the season. The Dons have taken on a new lease of life with ex-Scotland boss Craig Brown shoring up a leaky defence and giving them the confidence to start climbing the league, and they seemed to enjoy their Scottish Cup experience with a crushing 6-0 win over East Fife, Chris McGuire notching a hat-trick. Celtic found out that the 9-0 humiliation was never going to happen again under the new management, although they did manage to score the only goal of a much tighter encounter. So, it would appear that Aberdeen have made progress on all fronts recently, while Terry & Mo's lads have gone backwards at an alarming rate. McGuire's opposite number at Inverness, Adam Rooney has been the subject of much transfer speculation since Xmas time. His last league goals coming against Hibernian, also a hat-trick, but that was nine games ago, not the best of form for someone looking for pastures new. It's possibly no coincidence that Rooney's drought has happened at the same time as fellow Irishman Jonny Hayes' enforced lay off and the other shamrock connection of Richie Foran's apparent lack of energy on the park. Strange for a player who was putting his body where it hurt in the run in to the first division championship. What can Butcher do to change this? Well, the re-introduction of Hayes last weekend lifted the fans and should certainly give the team more energy. He did more in his fifteen minutes on the park than most did in ninety. He can't do it on his own of course, but Adam Rooney will maybe see more of the ball now that a supplier has returned. Dani Sanchez has also shown that he can poach a goal when required, and he seems to have an eye for a defence splitting pass, if only the recipients could take advantage of them. Russell Duncan, so often the scapegoat, staked a claim for a start with a bright subs appearance and was unlucky not to score, but for a goal line clearance denying him when he burst onto Jonny Hayes' slipped through ball after a jinking run by the little Irishman. The defence, so often the backbone for grinding out results has not altered too much, so nothing needs to be meddled with there. The midfield and creative area's are the ones responsible for our lack of success recently and that is where the likes of Nick Ross and Richie Foran need to show us an end product. It's all very well weaving pretty patterns across the pitch, but the direct approach may pay more dividends and if Rooney can take advantage of the new energy available, then maybe all is not lost yet. Inverness hold the upper hand in the two previous games this season so far, but I doubt they will find Aberdeen to be the same downbeat bunch of losers they were before Brown and Knox resurrected their season. The Dons on the up, and ICT on a downer, it looks as though the tables have turned. The ICT fans have been waiting for Hayes to return, let's hope we are not disappointed. Ginger Jaggy has the job of picking up the pieces for this crucial encounter, and here are his thoughts before the teams battle it out for the three points. Tomorrow night we face our third match of the season against Aberdeen. The dons are below us in the table but have a couple of games in hand, and they, like others from the bottom six look to close in on us and capitalise on our poor form. In the past this match has had a predictable outcome with the Dons usually coming out winners, having such a hoodoo over us that it took four full seasons in the SPL before we finally registered a competitive victory. But this season has been a fruitful one and we are looking for a third victory over our east coast neighbours this season. Form Guide The form of these two teams could not be at further ends of the scale. Back in November it was the Dons, who were coming into this encounter on the downward spiral. This time it is them who come into this encounter as the form team – how times have changed. Our form has suffered since the injury to Jonny Hayes. Caley Thistles goal scoring has been a problem and this can be attributed to the missing Hayes as Adam Rooney has not had the service that he thrived on earlier on in the season. But we can't just pin our bad run to wing wizard Hayes, this transfer window has seen a lot of speculation about the future of Adam Rooney and I'm sure that has been playing on his mind with a few below par performances. Last Saturday has shown that a revival may be on the cards with the return of the injured Hayes. In a game which Inverness produced some flair and passion in the first half, we failed to hold on to 1-0 lead given by the impressive Dani Sanchez who in my view should have been brought in way before the cup game against Elgin. Even though we looked short of ideas in the second half, the return of Hayes looks to be a big plus to everyone, the squad, the club, and also the supporters as we look for some much needed inspiration that has been lacking in the last few weeks. His 15 minute cameo breathed new life into the team and his inclusion from the start for Wednesday night will be a massive boost against the resurgent Dons. Caley Thistle is 9 matches without a win in the league and that will hopefully be broken on Wednesday night. There have been a lot of draws, some of which were welcome, but some like last weekend's result, and defeats to St Johnstone and St Mirren are not results that keep you in the top six. Looking at the Dons and it has been a massive transformation from the team who were bottom of the league just before Christmas. A 9-0 thrashing, a manager under pressure, players playing below their ability; things at Pittodrie looked gloomy since topping the league after the first few matches of the season. Since the departure of Mark McGhee Aberdeen have been a different team, those same under performing players now look like troubling any team in the league. There last poor performance was a 5-0 nil thrashing at the hands of Hearts in the interim period between the departure of McGhee and the arrival of Craig Brown. Since Brown has taken charge of the team they have been on an excellent run of form which only came to an end with a creditable 1-0 defeat at Parkhead on Saturday when they pushed the Glasgow side all the way. They have beaten Hibs, were held only by a late David Goodwillie goal against Dundee United so they have had some decent results. Aberdeen were not a team of poor players, they were a team playing poorly, and low on confidence not to mention the huge amount of injuries they had sustained. But since the arrival of Brown and Knox they have regained that confidence. In some ways Aberdeen suffered a lot of what we have been through in the last month. A lot of goals scored by Scott Vernon have been down to the excellent form of Chris McGuire. This parallel to our problems with the missing Jonny Hayes and with Rooney's lack of quality service, and this was a major problem for Aberdeen. But these two are in excellent form now and with the addition of Nick Blackman who showed real talent at Motherwell, it will make Wednesday a very different proposition altogether. Recent Fixture History We actually hold the advantage in this stake as we have recorded two victories over the Dons this season. A few seasons ago we had zero in the win column against the Dons but all of a sudden we have beaten them three times. The first of these being at Pittodrie in 2008 when we thought we were going to have a great season especially with our new star striker Andrew Barrowman scoring on his SPL debut. Winning against Aberdeen and Barrowman opening his account made us think we could have a good season with both ducks broken, but how wrong were we. This season has been a breath of fresh air against our not so close neighbours. Since our first victory in 2008, we followed that up this season by breaking our home duck over the Dons as we recorded a welcome 2-0 victory, one of the few comforts at home this season. We kept it up by continuing our long unbeaten away record with a 2-1 victory at Pittodrie in mid November which was just about the last straw for their beleaguered boss Mark McGhee. However, overall Aberdeen still has the best record in the head to heads with 8 wins out of a possible 17. Inverness has only recorded the three mentioned victories, 2008 and our two league wins this season. But lets not listen to statistics as I think with Jonny Hayes back we may just sneak a win we desperately need to reinvigorate our season. Prediction This is a tough game to call when putting all the elements together. This should be an away win if we take into consideration the form of the two sides, our dreadful home league record and our overall head to head stats. But football is more than that and with Jonny Hayes looking hungry after his 15 minutes against Hamilton I feel we can do something in this one. We have not yet been destroyed by teams at home this season and are normally reasonably tight defensively. If we can grab the first goal then I think we can win this one. We have had a few disappointing results when we have led teams at home but Terry will have drummed into the players to cut out the slack mistakes and loss of concentration. A lot of our problems this season at home is when we fall behind and end up chasing the game which we struggle to do. The first goal is key but I will be optimistic and go for a 1-0 win. 1-0 Inverness is Ginger Jaggies shout. ***Latest Team News*** Inverness will have Jonny Hayes available after he came through his comeback cameo at the weekend. Lee Cox is back training after his knee injury and David Proctor will also be in the squad. Gillet and Morrison are still a week or two away from inclusion in the matchday squad. Terry Butcher is looking for a more ruthless approach in front of goal and maintains that this weeks training sessions were very lively with the squad looking sharp. Let's hope he has worked on the throw-ins as well. Inverness are reported to have signed AAron Doran on a loan deal from Blackburn Rovers until the end of the season. The 19 year old winger has played for the Republic of Ireland at u19 level and has made first team appearances for Rovers as a substitute. If International clearance comes through in time he may be able to be called into action against the Dons. Aberdeen boss Craig Brown makes his first visit to Inverness as the Dons manager. David McNamee has returned to full training and could be included in the squad. Another man with a chance of playing is enigmatic winger Sone Aluko, back after achilles problems. Brown's priority is to get points on the board and steer well clear of the relegation battle, and he is aware of the task in hand after taking Motherwell up north previously. Other News Morton look to have secured their place in the cup game at Inverness barring a major collapse, they are leading Airdrie 0-4 with twenty minutes to go. 2-5 Final score, Morton it is. Hibs have signed Ross County player Martin Scott for a fee thought to be around £80,000. Rangers have confirmed an interest in Scotland and Derby star Kris Commons. Former Partick Thistle midfielder Charlie Adam is being touted as a multi million pound player by Blackpool after he put in a transfer request. They have already rejected a "derisory" four million pound offer from Liverpool. On a wider view, former Dundee United, Rangers and Scotland player Andy Gray has now been sacked from his lucrative Sky TV contract after he made sexist comments about female officials, and unacceptable and offensive behaviour revealed since this came to light.