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Butchers Family Fortunes Welcome to the first "six pointer" of the season at Caledonian Stadium, where we renew acquaintances with Hamilton Academicals. The team from New Douglas Park travels up the A9 as the League's bottom club, with no points and two 4-0 defeats behind them. Getting out of the central belt probably never felt so good, but Billy Reid doesn't have problems to seek this year, and it just got worse after defeat in the CIS prompted more "dancing in the streets of Raith" In many respects, Hamilton are in a similar position to ICT. League success is a relative thing, with avoiding the drop being the first criteria every year. In the past couple of seasons, they have become used to a certain bullish optimism borne of their young talent and a clever imported mix (including one D. Imrie, more of whom later) However, the crown jewels have been sold (MacArthur and Easton); the defence is missing or injured (Alex Neil, Mark MacLaughlin) in great part and the strikeforce is hampered by Antoine Curier's enforced recall to the east. Hamilton are left with a mixed bag that is still worthy of respect. Cerny, the goalkeeper, is capable of great things on his day, and the defence still has Ross (well they did until yesterday!), Canning and Skelton. All have turned in good performances in the past in these parts. In midfield, they have not one but two enigmatically named Paixao's to call upon and that man Imrie. We know that he can be brilliant on his day, but affected by what happens around him, and Hamilton's sinking ship impersonation won't help him. You might think that their new signing might help though, his name's Hasselbaink. Billy Reid, Hamilton's own wee rotunda has pulled no punches this year, referring to his charges as "embarrassing" and "comic cut" after giving away four penalties in two games. God knows how they will cope with Hayes. At TCS, things couldn't be more different. A solid preseason has given way to a season's start that saw us pick up our first three points on Sunday and progress in the CIS cup, scoring seven goals without reply in the process. From Ryan Esson forward, the team has begun to shape the presence that served us so well last year. TB's intent is well shown by the strength of the side fielded against Peterhead, and not too many changes can be anticipated apart from the return of McCann and Esson. Grant Munro continues to impress this year, and David Proctor has shown that he can effectively interchange with Rossco when required. It's up front, though that our most settled formation looks more dangerous as time goes on. Jonny Hayes is getting back to warp factor 7 speeds, Adam Rooney has phasers set to "kill" and Eric Odhiambo is handing him as much ammunition as he can fire. Russell Duncan is firing long range cannons at will right now and enjoying it by the look of things. ***latest***from the Inverness camp is that Ross Tokely is still struggling, although he is recovering quicker than expected and could make the bench. Foran, Blumenshtein and Innes all miss out. Hamilton have lost the services of Jack Ross and Stuart Elliot, both have been released from their contracts. Martin Canning is suspended, while Alex Neil, Mark Maglaughlin and David Elebert are still on the treatment table. Things are traditionally tight between these two teams, 1-1 being the score last time out. Foran scored ours, whilst Canning equalised. At that time, we thought we were safe. If you just go by the stats, it might point to something less than exciting ( a sequence of 1-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-1) It's more like binary than football scores, and shaded narrowly in the sequence by Hamilton. This time, the runes suggest it's perfectly reasonable to hope for a first home win for TB and the team. Let's make some noise if it happens, but please, can we keep our shoes on? Terry Butcher is convinced that the family feeling is helping his squad to realise their full potential and the family atmosphere will go a long way to helping the cause. He has said that there is a great feeling in the dressing room just now and long may it continue. Everyone is on a high, and they all help each other out, the whole team benefits from this, and the fans can go home happy. The scribe for this preview is our own davie, since he never made Tannadice.

Friends reunited The CIS Cup has paired Inverness with the Blue Loon team fae Peterheid. This will mean a return to Tulloch Caledonian Stadium for former Inverness favourites Martin Bavidge, captain Bobby Mann and the club legend that is Dennis Wyness. Bobby Mann is unlikely to feature though as he is on the injury list at present. Some old adversaries will also be present, ex-County manager Neale Cooper will bring Connor Gethins and Daniel Moore along within his squad. Peterhead is synonymous with prisons and fishing but a football team is slowly emerging from the ashes of a depleted fishing industry. The Blue Tooners are the nearly men from Balmoor as they look like promotion candidates most seasons but fail to make the step up to the first division. Inverness are fresh from Tannadice after swarming all over Dundee United at the weekend. Four goals scored and none conceded made it a great day out in the sun with some stunning goals for the vocal travelling support to wax lyrical about. Adam Rooney is off and running on the goal trail and Russell Duncan has scored his goal for the season. Kevin McCann scored a tremendous long range effort which left keeper Pernis with no chance as the ball swerved high past his despairing dive into the top corner from around 32 yards. What made it all the better, was that this result was achieved without the influential Richie Foran and the defensive rock that is Ross Tokely. However, young Nick Ross eased the pain with a busy performance and David Proctor filled Rossco’s boots admirably. Jonny Hayes is coming back from injury and both he and Eric gave Scotland cap Garry Kenneth a torrid time. All good news for Inverness after that game and it could well be that the same eleven start this one, although Jonny Tuffey may get the number one jersey. Chris Innes will miss out although his suspension has been served. Ross Tokely and Richie Foran are still sidelined with injury. Neale Cooper will be without one of the finest players to have played for Inverness Caledonian Thistle. They don’t come much bigger or better than Bobby Mann and his reading of the game belies his lack of pace. One of his great attributes is his unerring accuracy and ability to start an attack from inside his own penalty box and his composure under pressure would thwart many an attack. At the other end of the park, Wyness the legend will be looking to add to the many goals he has already scored in Inverness. Our record scorer with 101 goals for ICT has already netted for Coopers side, scoring a double on his debut against Montrose in the Alba Cup. Peterhead beat Berwick Rangers in the last round of the CIS Cup using an ICT connection thanks to a Dennis Wyness header from a Martin Bavidge cross. Inverness earned the right to progress after easing past Queens Park in an uninspiring encounter. Cox, Odhiambo and Tokely were the scorers as ICT scored three without reply. The Balmoor outfit have had a disastrous start to the league with three straight defeats, only Dumbarton’s inferior goal difference keeping them off the bottom. Seven goals lost with only three scored in their three games, it looks like Mann’s steadying influence at the back is a big loss with him being injured. Team news Inverness have no new injury worries after the visit to Tannadice, although Foran, Tokely, Blumenshtein and Innes are still out. If boss Butcher makes any changes, some squad players may find themselves in the starting eleven. Dani Sanchez, Roy McBain and Stuart Golabek will be looking to put themselves in the frame for an SPL game and Jonny Tuffey may be asked to keep goal for some match sharpness, although Ryan Esson has been excellent in his start to the season. Peterhead will be definitely be without Dave Ross who has a knee injury and Bobby Mann is an unlikely starter after injuring his ankle in the 3-1 defeat to Stenhousemuir. Nicky Clark and Scott Ross will be pushing for a start to make their debuts for Neale Coopers side. Martin Bavidge may also miss out due to work commitments as he may not get back from London in time. How could he........ Peterheads last team lines:- Jarvie, Donald, Stuart Smith, MacDonald, Moore, McVitie, Emslie, Anderson (Gethins 87), Sharp, Wyness, Bavidge. Subs Not Used: Bateman, Clark, Strachan, Scott Ross tm4tj Prediction This game will be tougher than the relative league positions of the two teams would indicate. Peterhead with some weil kent faces will be out to upset the SPL newbies, but early league form would suggests otherwise. However, Coopers Blue Toon loons have been scoring freely in cup games and with Wyness in their ranks the ICT back four will need to look out for the double shuffle. You know it's coming, but you still can't stop it. With confidence high after the drubbing of Dundee United I would expect a win over Peterhead, but it might be tight.