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Almost there with Ayr... It's Matchday 3 and Ayr United are the visitors to an almost back to normality Caledonian Stadium with up to 5,000 fans allowed entry to the ground. Where will we find all these extra fans? The game kicks off at 3:00pm on Saturday with masks almost a thing of the past as covid restrictions ease somewhat. Hospitality suite is open for this one, time to put on a show. Inverness are one of three unbeaten sides in the Championship after opening wins over Arbroath and Raith Rovers. The point against Rovers was hard earned and deserved, but it took a wonderful strike from Roddy MacGregor to win the match. We sit third in the table behind promoted Partick Thistle and relegated Kilmarnock. Here's a quick guide on what the guidelines allow as the stadium opens out for the Ayr United game. Welcome back! Roddy's goal is well worth another look Ayr United come North on the back of a decent performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, taking the Tannadice side to extra time and penalties before losing the shoot-out 4-3. Their Championship form shows they have one point from their opening two fixtures. They opened up with a derby defeat to Killie and followed that up with a home draw against Arbroath, coming from two down to earn a point thanks to a strike by Tomi Adeloye and a late goal from Mark McKenzie. So some positives for David Hopkin to take from that despite only showing one point for their efforts to date. Ticket/Match Info ICTV streaming Official Preview Stat Attack Championship Table Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Partick Thistle 2 2 0 0 6 2 4 6 2. Kilmarnock 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6 3. Inverness CT 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 6 4. Morton 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4 5. Hamilton Academical 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 6. Raith Rovers 2 0 1 1 4 5 -1 1 7. Arbroath 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1 8. Ayr United 2 0 1 1 2 4 -2 1 9. Dunfermline 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1 10. Queen of the South 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0 First Competitive Meeting v Ayr Aug 28th, 1999 League (A) 0 - 1 Most Recent Competitive Meeting v Ayr Apr 30th, 2021 League (Championship) (H) 2 - 2 Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Ayr 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) Biggest Victories Apr 24th, 2010 League (A) 7 - 0 Heaviest Defeats Nov 28th, 2001 League Cup (Quarter Final) (A) 1 - 5 Highest Attendance Aug 15th, 2009 League (H) 3,297 Venue (Head to Head) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 20 9 10 1 34 20 +14 Away 21 10 4 7 40 26 +14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 41 19 14 8 74 46 +28 So, a decent record against Ayr United, just one home defeat in twenty games. Stewart Kean scored the only goal at the Caledonian Stadium to give Ayr United a 0 - 1 win. John Robertson made his home debut as Inverness manager and It was Dennis Wyness' 100th game in a row with Barry Robson making his 150th appearance. Some memorable games against Ayr, the 7 - 0 at Somerset Park a particular highlight as the promotion party got into full swing. Some team we had then though. Ahhh, nostalgia, it's not what it used to be. Other fixtures this weekend Raith Rovers V Dunfermline (Friday - abandoned lighting issues) Arbroath v Partick Thistle Hamilton v Kilmarnock Morton v Queen of the South Shane Sutherland is our first monthly winner of the PotY awards. He has put in some workmanlike performances and rounded off July with the vital opening goal of our League campaign against Arbroath. Not just any old goal, but a touch of class with a dinked finish from the edge of the box in an otherwise dour struggle. Manny Duku is second with Tom Walsh in third place. Latest Team News Inverness have had an extra week to shake off the niggles and Billy Mckay, Lewis Jamieson Sean Welsh and Aaron Doran will benefit from that. However, Wallace Duffy is still sidelined and Anthony McDonald will be a doubt. All of our graduates that signed on this season are out on loan, so that could leave us a little thin on the ground with little defensive cover. On the face of it, Ayr look to be weaker than they were last season. Out went the likes of Dario Zanatta, Luke McCowan, Sam Roscoe, Josh Todd and of course Tom Walsh who returned to Inverness. In comes Tomi Adeloye from Barnet and a raft of Morton players, no doubt connected to David Hopkin now being the Ayr manager. They have also acquired a couple of decent loans in defender John Maxwell from Rangers and forward Jonathon Afolabi from Celtic. They still look to be short of where they want to be but put up a determined performance against Dundee United in the League Cup, so write them off at your own peril. These guys are great. Have a listen to The Wyness Shuffle View full article

Seaside opener The season gets real on Saturday when the opening fixtures of the Championship kick-off with Inverness travelling to Arbroath to take on the 'Smokies' with fans from both sides being allowed entry, albeit on a restricted basis. The ball starts rolling at 15:00 as season 2021-2022 gets underway for the Caley Jags under the new leadership of Billy Dodds. Good to see the supporters bus getting an airing for this one after a year of inactivity. Supporters Bus Match Info Streaming from Arbroath TV Official Preview Our standard League Cup exit was confirmed before the Hearts game with Stirling Albion clinching second spot in the group. Good luck to them. We went through the motions against Hearts and but for a superb performance by Mark Ridgers we would have conceded a hatful of goals. It ended 1-0 to the hosts after substitute Jamie Walker rifled in a sharp finish to end our League Cup games. One or two positives from the game but the gulf in class was evident as the Jambos prepare for life in the Premiership; for us, another season in the Championship starts at Arbroath, a side we have found difficult to break down of late. Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Arbroath 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 1 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (A) 2 - 1 (H) 0 - 3 (H) 7 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (A) Venue - Head to head Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 15 2 2 53 17 +36 Away 17 8 3 6 25 22 +3 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 36 23 5 8 78 39 +39 First Competitive Meeting Aug 12th, 1994 League ((Div 3)) (H) 5 - 2 Most Recent Competitive Meeting Mar 27th, 2021 League (Championship) (H) 1 - 0 Things are looking up for Arbroath with news that over 800 season tickets have been sold. That's great news for the highest placed part time team in Scotland who have come up two tiers under the guidance of the wily olde Dick. Latest Team News Michael Gardyne is suspended for Inverness after his straight red at Tynecastle. Sean Welsh is still injured but it was good to see Anthony McDonald back on the park after recovering from his knee operation. David Carson has missed the last couple of games and Billy Mckay has not surfaced since we signed him from County. Let's hope we get these guys back on the park sooner rather than later. Dick Campbell has former Edinburgh City player Liam Henderson suspended for Arbroath, but captain Tam O'Brien is back after a foot injury saw him miss the last few games. One miss for them this term will be striker Jack Hamilton who has returned to Livingston. Ex Dundee player Nick Low will be an asset at Gayfield this season. Bin man Linn will always be a threat to a static defence. Billy Dodds talking after the defeat to Hearts And here's the Billy and Danny show ahead of the visit to Gayfield This post has been promoted to an article

A new season starts and before the bubble bursts let's try to predict the coming season. 1. Top Scorer 2. Top assists 3. League position 4. Youngster with most appearances.

OK, the play-offs get serious from now on at both ends of the table. So who will be joining us next season in the Championship. QF1: Pars 0-0 Raith QF2: Raith 2v0 Pars - Raith now face Dundee home & Away 1st Leg: Montrose 2v1 Morton (2nd leg Morton 3-1 Montrose 11th May) 1st Leg: Cove 1v1 Airdrie (2nd leg Airdrie 2-1 11th May) The Scottish Championship, League 1 and League 2 play-off finals have been rescheduled to allow fans to attend. The Scottish government is expected to confirm that crowds of up to 500 will be permitted without prior permission from 17 May. The Championship final will now be on 18 and 21 May, with the League 1 showpiece on 17 and 20 May, and the League 2 final on 18 and 23 May. All four League 1 and Championship games will be shown live on BBC Alba. The Premiership final on 20 and 24 May should also be able to welcome fans. Furthermore, the football authorities can propose accommodating more than 500 spectators at any given fixture. The government would then decide whether or not to grant any request. Two of Greenock Morton or Airdrieonians, Cove Rangers and Montrose will appear in the Championship showpiece. The Premiership final will involve two of Ross County, Kilmarnock, Hamilton (relegated), Dundee, Raith Rovers and Dunfermline Athletic. Relegation group GP W D L GF GA GD Pts 1 Motherwell 36 12 8 16 36 51 -15 44 2 St. Mirren 36 11 10 15 34 42 -8 43 3 Dundee Utd 36 10 12 14 30 48 -18 42 4 Ross County 36 9 6 21 31 64 -33 33 5 Kilmarnock 36 9 5 22 38 51 -13 32 6 Hamilton 36 7 9 20 33 63 -30 30 Wed 12th May 7:45: County v Accies - Killie v St Mirren Sun 16th May 12:00: - Motherwell v County - Accies v Killie

The end is nigh For us, it's the final game of the season as we have missed out on the promotion play-offs despite a tremendous last six weeks which saw us go on a six game winning run including a derby Scottish Cup win over Ross County. Unfortunately we left ourselves an uphill task after the first two thirds of our season was decimated by injuries, covid and inclement weather. Ayr United head North with Championship survival high on their agenda as they look to avoid the relegation play-offs with Arbroath and Morton the other contenders. The game is a 19:45 kick-off on Friday night. Our season ended last Saturday at Tynecastle in an error strewn first half where Hearts scored three times without reply. MotM Gary Mackay-Steven scored twice and McEneff netted the other via a slight deflection. Our misery was exacerbated at the third goal as Robbie Deas ushered the ball back to the advancing Mark Ridgers. Unfortunately, as Ridgers dived down to gather, Deas dropped his guard too early and the ever alert GMS stuck his leg between them to prod the ball into the now unguarded net. Comedy goal, but we were not laughing. It ended at 3-0 and season over with Dunfermline and Dundee consolidating their places in the play-offs. So near, yet so far! PPV LIVE STREAMING £10 LIVE UPDATES TONIGHT ICTFC MEDIA SILENCE CEO Scot Gardiner said: “We very much stand shoulder to shoulder with the other clubs and sports to convey the message that online abuse and discrimination of any kind is completely unacceptable.” CTO MEDIA SILENCE Enough is enough! CTO will join with Scottish football to support a boycott of social media in response to continuing racist and discriminatory abuse online aimed at players, staff, supporters and others associated with the game. It should and will not be tolerated and we will have no social media posts from 3:00pm on Friday through to midnight on 3rd of May. Ayr United now find themselves in a three way battle for survival after a goalless draw at Queen of the South. Arbroath are sucked into the mire along with Morton, and they meet at the Smokie Dome on Friday night. Ayr are the best placed of the three threatened clubs and a draw will ensure their Championship status. An Arbroath win will also see Ayr safe and relegate Morton. All games kick-off at the same time of 7:45pm. Table with one game to go before play-offs Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 26 16 6 4 59 24 35 54 2. Raith Rovers 26 12 7 7 45 32 13 43 3. Dundee 26 11 9 6 47 40 7 42 4. Dunfermline 26 10 9 7 38 33 5 39 5. Inverness CT 26 8 11 7 34 29 5 35 6. Queen of the South 26 9 5 12 38 49 -11 32 7. Arbroath 26 7 8 11 28 34 -6 29 8. Ayr United 26 6 10 10 29 35 -6 28 9. Morton 26 6 10 10 22 33 -11 28 10. Alloa Athletic 26 4 7 15 29 60 -31 19 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Ayr United --- Ayr last five games DLDLD --- ICT last five games WWDDL 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 1 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 3 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 3 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) Venue (H to H) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 9 9 1 32 18 +14 Away 21 10 4 7 40 26 +14 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 40 19 13 8 72 44 +28 Neither side have won in their last three games with points becoming difficult to claim as the season comes to a climax. We have had some memorable games against Ayr United over the years, this one might have too much tension to go down as a classic and with a point suiting Ayr, that's maybe where the smart money will go. ***Latest Team News*** Neil McCann has indicated this will be his last game in charge according to this article in the Inverness Courier. I'm sure we are all grateful for his and Billy Dodd's input since coming in to cover for John Robertson. After an iffy start, we almost made it to the play-offs. So cheers guys. Last outing of the season and it's a fair bet many will not be back next year with something like 18 players out of contract in the summer. Those that are already contracted to be here next season: 2022: M Ridgers, Duffy, Devine, Harper, MacGregor, D Mackay, Welsh. 2023: Allardice, Deas, 2024 Carson. The rest have not committed themselves yet or may not have been offered a new contract, so some tough talking ahead and none more important than who will be in charge. Brad Mckay is suspended after his red card against Dundee. Latest Ayr boss David Hopkin has brought in young Motherwell keeper Peter Morrison since the 3-0 defeat to Dundee as young Finnish keeper Viljami Sinisalo returned to his parent club, Aston Villa, after picking up an injury. Corrie Ndaba missed out against Queen of the South with a knock picked up at Arbroath. Tom Walsh and Joe Chalmers are still on the books and Michael Moffat returned to the starting XI last week. So, get your old Ayr guitar out one last time... Official Player of the Year voting View full article

Out of our hands After the disappointing draw with Dundee in midweek, our destiny is in the hands of others. All we can do is gather points and hope that others can lend a helping hand by taking points of Dunfermline and Dundee as we visit Tynecastle to take on Champions Hearts. All games kick-off at 3:00pm on Saturday, it's a massive day of football in the Championship. We remained unbeaten on league business against Dundee on Tuesday night but it wasn't the result we were looking for. A 1-1 draw takes hands the control to Dunfermline who can now only throw away their play-off place. It all kicked off in the second half against McPake's illustrious squad. Unfortunately two red cards for Scott Allardice and Brad Mckay swung the game heavily in favour of the Dee. Incredibly we took the lead with six minutes to go when Dan Mackay brilliantly scored his eighth goal of the campaign. Alas, two minutes later Lee Ashcroft made the most of our missing players as he headed almost unchallenged into the net following a corner from Charlie Adams. That's how it ended, us with nine men and a point apiece. OFFICIAL PREVIEW STREAMING INFO RED CARDS The table looks like this ahead of Saturday's fixtures with Inverness one point below a play-off place. It has to be said that the Pars have the more comfortable conclusion to their season, but Arbroath could spring a surprise. Should Dundee also fail to win their remaining games, they could also be caught. Remaining fixtures for 3rd & 4th play-off place. Hearts v Inverness CT ---- Dunfermline v Arbroath ---- Dundee v Raith Rovers Inverness CT v Ayr United ---- Alloa v Dunfermline ---- Queen of the South v Dundee Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 25 15 6 4 56 24 32 51 2. Raith Rovers 25 12 7 6 44 30 14 43 3. Dundee 25 10 9 6 45 39 6 39 4. Dunfermline 25 9 9 7 34 30 4 36 5. Inverness CT 25 8 11 6 34 26 8 35 6. Queen of the South 25 9 4 12 38 49 -11 31 7. Arbroath 25 7 8 10 25 30 -5 29 8. Ayr United 25 6 9 10 29 35 -6 27 9. Morton 25 6 9 10 21 32 -11 27 10. Alloa Athletic 25 4 6 15 28 59 -31 18 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Hearts. Peer through your fingers only... 1 - 1 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 0 - 1 (A) 0 - 3 (N) 0 - 5 (A) 1 - 1 (A) 3 - 3 (H) 1 - 5 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 0 - 2 (A) Venue (all competitions) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 18 4 10 4 16 17 -1 Away 21 5 4 12 23 37 -14 Neutral 3 0 2 1 3 6 -3 Total 42 9 16 17 42 60 -18 As expected, Hearts have cruised to the title. Despite this, many Jambos are still bemoaning the fact that Robbie Neilson is in charge. Some folk are just never happy Their last outing was a 0-0 draw at Cappielow where we won easily recently. Prior to that they thumped relegated Alloa 6-0. Our problem is we don't know which Hearts will turn up on the day they get their Championship trophy, maybe they will be demob happy. Neil talking ahead of the trip to Tynecastle ***Latest Team News*** Neil McCann is appealing the two red cards received in the Dundee game. The problem with this is we won't know the outcome until the night before the game which is unsettling for his squad preparation for what is now the biggest game of the season. So, we could well be without Brad Mckay and Scott Allardice. Cammy Harper will come in at left back with maybe James Vincent in the holding midfield role. ***NEWS JUST IN: SCOTT ALLARDICE is free to play but Brad Mckay will serve his ban after a meeting of the disciplinary committee in Glasgow today. Robbie Neilson has plenty talent to choose from. Jamie Walker was not involved at Cappielow and Raith bound Cristophe Berra was also missing. Young defender Harry Cochrane has not signed a new contract and it's unlikely that any of them will feature against Inverness. Neilson has twelve players out of contract this summer. View full article

DEE DAY. There's no going back now, Dee Day is upon us and it's virtually win or bust as Dundee visit the Caledonian Stadium at 7:00pm on Tuesday evening for a crunch game. With Dunfermline picking up more crucial points since their thrashing at Raith they now have two very winnable games coming up over Arbroath and Alloa whilst we face Dundee, arguably the best squad of individuals in the Championship, followed by the best team in promoted Hearts away, then a tough final game against relegation threatened Ayr United. Of course, three wins for Inverness will suffice for a play off place, but that's a monumental task given our opponents. Streaming Info Official Preview We missed out on a second Premiership scalp in the Scottish Cup at the start of the weekend going down to a very late goal from Marcus Fraser that took the gloss of a superb team performance as we went toe to toe with St Mitten in a highly entertaining tussle. Nikolay Todorov scored his eleventh of the season but Kristian Dennis levelled immediately to keep the game on a knife edge right up until the 90th minute when Fraser tapped in the winner. Ach well, it was a fun distraction while it lasted but the main course will be served when Dundee visit. Toddy: 6th goal in last five games Whilst we were on Cup duty, Dunfermline leapfrogged us into fourth place with a 3-1 win over Queen of the South. They are now in prime position for the play offs but it is still in our own hands at the moment, although looking more likely that we will need to win all of our remaining games to do this. That leaves the table looking like this ahead of Tuesday night's games: Inverness CT v Dundee, Morton v Hearts SPFL Championship League Table Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 24 15 5 4 56 24 32 50 2. Raith Rovers 25 12 7 6 44 30 14 43 3. Dundee 24 10 8 6 44 38 6 38 4. Dunfermline 25 9 9 7 34 30 4 36 5. Inverness CT 24 8 10 6 33 25 8 34 6. Queen of the South 25 9 4 12 38 49 -11 31 7. Arbroath 25 7 8 10 25 30 -5 29 8. Ayr United 25 6 9 10 29 35 -6 27 9. Morton 24 6 8 10 21 32 -11 26 10. Alloa Athletic 25 4 6 15 28 59 -31 18 Last 10 Competitive Meetings v Dundee ------ Dundee last six League games -> DDWWWL 1 - 2 (A) 2 - 2 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 0 - 1 (A) 0 - 1 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 2 - 0 (A) 2 - 2 (H) Of the two games played this season, the first ended in a 2-2 draw in the Highlands in front of a covid restricted crowd of 300 on 12th December. Dee grabbed a late point after a pulsating game at the Caledonian Stadium ended all square. Liam Fontaine opened the scoring just before the interval reacting quickest to a rebound from the crossbar. Robbie Deas deservedly equalised with twenty minutes left and James Keatings put the hosts ahead three minutes later only for Jordan McGhee to peg us back again eight minutes from the end. The return fixture at Dens Park resulted in a 2-1 victory for the hosts. It was too little too late and Dundee manager Jake McPake looked to have tightened his shoogely peg as first half goals from Max Anderson and Jason Cummings put Dundee in at the break two up. Inverness were out of sorts in a poor first forty-five. Nikolay Todorov pulled a goal back with fifteen minutes left heading home a Cammy Harper cross. Inverness mounted a mini-comeback but fell just short as Dundee held on for all three points. We have a decent record in the Highlands against Dundee, the only loss being a Scottish Cup replay in 2018 after a 2-2 draw at Dens Park. However, this is a different beast now and it's points that make prizes. With Dunfermline gathering points, it's still all in the balance. Venue (All competitions) Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 15 7 7 1 26 14 +12 Away 19 6 8 5 25 23 +2 Neutral 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 Total 36 13 15 8 53 41 +12 ***Latest Team News*** James Keatings and birthday boy Wallace Duffy missed the visit to Paisley. I wonder if we have seen the last of the departing Keatings or is his injury prone career going to travel with him. Under fire McPake seems to have managed to resurrect his managerial career and has turned a mediocre season into a possible promotion one. Dundee have probably the best squad of individuals and McPake is slowly getting the best out of them at the right time. Cummings, Sow, McMullan, Adams, are all quality players who can hurt you. McMullan in particular has been a thorn in our side over the last couple of seasons, and all can score goals. Defender Jordon Forstor has left the club. Left back Jordan Marshall will miss out through injury and this game could also come too soon for Paul McGowan and Max Anderson. Cammy Kerr will likely continue to cover at left back. View full article

Can we be King of Queens? Down to the nitty gritty now and another crucial game ahead as we travel to Palmerston Park Dumfries for what is the start of the proverbial six-pointers with only four games left in the Championship. Queens on Saturday at 3:00pm, our sixth away game out of the last seven, then Dundee (H), Hearts (A), Ayr United (H). It's a difficult closing run to the season when you consider our immediate target, Dunfermline, close out the season against bottom teams Arbroath and Alloa. As the table stands, we are only three points ahead of Queens going in to this game and they still have a game in hand. OFFICIAL PREVIEW STREAMING INFO £10 We started the week in fine fettle as we clinically beat Morton 4-1 at Cappielow thanks to stunning goals from Allardice, Todorov (2) and Dan Mackay. The strikers must have taken a bottle of Hot Toddy's stunning goal linctus as every goal was sublime, maybe none better than Toddy's second goal when he chested the ball down and volleyed spectacularly past keeper McAdams. We toiled for a time on the poor surface at Cappielow before two quick goals approaching the break put us in control. Ton pulled one back as they rallied after the break but the wind was taken out of their sails with Toddy's spectacular intervention and Dan added the icing on the cake when he curled a beauty of his own into the top corner. Great goals and a good win at what is often a difficult place to get all three points at times. Neil McCann was full of praise for the side after that one, and rightly so. Enjoy these goals again, not often you get four crackers in the same game... Here's the league table ahead of the Hearts v Alloa game on Friday night. Pld W D L F A +/- Pts 1. Hearts 23 14 5 4 50 24 26 47 2. Raith Rovers 22 10 6 6 39 27 12 36 3. Dundee 22 10 6 6 43 37 6 36 4. Inverness CT 23 8 9 6 32 24 8 33 5. Dunfermline 22 8 7 7 30 28 2 31 6. Queen of the South 22 9 3 10 36 44 -8 30 7. Ayr United 23 6 8 9 28 30 -2 26 8. Arbroath 23 6 7 10 19 28 -9 25 9. Morton 23 6 7 10 20 31 -11 25 10. Alloa Athletic 23 4 6 13 27 51 -24 18 Last 10 Competitive Meetings with Queen of the South - Queens last SIX League games since beating us 0-1-> W- W-W - L-L-W 0 - 1 (H) 3 - 0 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 2 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 2 (H) 3 - 3 (A) 0 - 0 (H) 2 - 0 (A) Dunfermline recently took a 5-1 hammering from Raith Rovers but bounced back to hold Hearts to a 0-0 draw which is the result that yoyo'ed them back above us momentarily. Such is the fixture chaos this season, it won't become clear until the final two games who is maybe going where. Queen of the South went out of the cup on Monday night, going down 3-1 to an impressive Hibernian. James Maxwell scored what proved to be a late consolation goal for the Doonhamers. Nortei Nortey scored the only goal in the Highlands but is likely to miss this game. Their form shows that since they beat us in Inverness they have won four and lost three including the cup game with Hibs. During that run they have had impressive wins over Dundee, Dunfermline Hearts and Arbroath, but suffered defeats to Alloa and Morton. It's a funny old game! A repeat of the away game at Palmerston earlier in the season would be maybe stretching the bounds of possibility a tad, but a backs to the wall scrappy win will suffice. Points make prizes as they say and that's what we need to do to keep in the hunt for a top four finish. Who knew we would be in this position after a season destroyed by injuries, weather and viruses? ***Latest Team News*** Duffy, Doran, Keatings and Welsh missed out at Morton, Welsh being replaced after the warm up but he could be available for this crucial game. Sadly, McDonald's season is probably a right-off. Nikolay Todorov scored his ninth goal of the season, and what a goal it was. Toddy is on a roll just now and young Dan Mackay notched his seventh. Good return from these guys of late after a slow start to the season. Allan Johnstone had this team out against Hibs in the Scottish Cup: Ferguson, Gibson, Buchanan, Breen, Maxwell, Obileye, McCabe, Dickson, Joseph (Jones 56′), Dobbie (McKee 76′), Shields (Mebude 76′) As always, Stephen Dobbie is a big threat and Connor Shields is the man on form with plenty pace and power, and like Toddy, nine goals in the bank as well. Nortei Nortey looks likely to miss out but Dan Pybus could return and Isaiah Jones played for half an hour in the cup game on his return from injury. View full article

Big week starts tonight The race for a play-off place is entering the final laps now with just five games left for the Caley Jags to try and overhaul one of the clubs above us in the table. Off to Greenock on Tuesday night for a 7:00pm start to face Morton who beat us in Inverness last time we met. In reality, the best we can hope for is overhauling one team before the end of the season and take our chances against the rest if we make the play-offs. Whilst we were on Cup duty last weekend beating the village team from Dingwall, we were looking for Hearts to do us a turn by beating Dunfermline at Tynecastle on the Saturday. They failed to do this in a 0-0 draw and that result has knocked Inverness just out of the coveted top four slots. Fair play from the Pars I suppose who recovered well from the 5-1 hammering they took off Raith Rovers last time out and now sit one point above Inverness. Our next two games will shape our season and are crucial to our success this campaign. Away to Morton followed by a trip to face Queen of the South at Palmerston. Aye, there are no easy games left, it's then Dundee at home, Hearts away and our final game is a home tie with Ayr United. STREAMING £14 from Ton TV OFFICIAL PREVIEW We have dropped five points to Morton this season already. A draw at Cappielow against ten men for over half the game was a low point, especially as we threw away a lead. Worse followed at the Caledonian Stadium when Morton's Aidan Nesbitt scored the only goal as we struggled to make headway and Morton got their first win in ten games. However, since then we are unbeaten in six games, winning the last five including the two cup games. Mark Ridgers made his 150th appearance for the club in the Cup game at Dingwall and he is on a run of three clean Championship sheets in a row. Another one would not go amiss. However, a word of caution. It's all very well owning the bragging rights after the Highland derby, but the big prize this season is promotion, and while that's still achievable it would be criminal to undo the good work of the last few weeks and rest on our laurels, albeit it is rather satisfying. Last updated: 03.04.2021 at 13:41 Pos Team Pld W D L F A Pts 1. Hearts 23 14 5 4 50 24 47 2. Raith Rovers 22 10 6 6 39 27 36 3. Dundee 21 9 6 6 40 37 33 4. Dunfermline 22 8 7 7 30 28 31 5. Inverness CT 22 7 9 6 28 23 30 6. Q.O.S. 22 9 3 10 36 44 30 7. Ayr United 22 6 8 8 28 27 26 8. Morton 22 6 7 9 19 27 25 9. Arbroath 23 6 7 10 19 28 25 10. Alloa Athletic 23 4 6 13 27 51 18 Last 10 Competitive Meetings 0 - 1 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 3 - 2 (H) 1 - 2 (A) 3 - 1 (H) 5 - 0 (H) 2 - 2 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 1 (H) Morton were in cup action at the weekend and had to go all the way before edging past East Fife 1-2 after extra time. They were heading out of the cup until Sean McGinty equalised in the 91st minute before substitute Robbie Muirhead settled the tie with eight minutes of extra time left. Kevin Smith had given the Fifers the lead on the hour and made Morton work hard for their place in the fourth round draw, as they did to Inverness early in the season in a league cup encounter. The Ton were also looking for a wee favour on Saturday when Arbroath hosted Alloa Athletic but the Wasps were unable to help out and went down 2-1. Not a great result for Morton who are now level on points with Arbroath and only hold a one goal advantage over the Smokies. So, for different reasons points at Cappielow will be a prized possession for both clubs as games run out in pursuit of their goals. Our cup exploits have earned us an away tie at Paisley in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup on the weekend of 17th/18th April. That means the League game against Dundee has been re-scheduled to Tuesday 20th April @ 7:00pm. Fabulous goals from Nikolay Todorov, Daniel Mackay and Shane Sutherland were enough to see of County in the cup who opened the scoring through Billy Mckay. St Mirren will offer a much sterner test than County's defence and this will be a difficult tie with the winner heading for a tie at Kilmarnock or Montrose. Morton's extra time win over the wee Fifers earned them an away tie at Motherwell. ***Latest Team News*** Scott Allan has played around an hour and a half now over two games and we have yet to see the best of him as his match sharpness returns. Aaron Doran is reputed to be close to a return but Anthony Macdonald will do well to get any game time this season. Almost a full squad, that's as good as it get's this season.