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Last visit of United for a while. Championship bound Dundee United come North on Friday evening after their relegation was confirmed last Monday night when Dundee put the final nail in their coffin. The job losses have already started with Mixu Paatelainen being the first head to roll. Notable others to be ditched are John Rankin, Ryan Dow, Edward Ofere, Florent Sinama Pongolle, Guy Demell and Callum Morris. There's no room for gloating though as we know only too well the hardships that can follow relegation, some clubs taking years to recover, and some clubs never come back again. United have been at the forefront of Scottish football since 1995 and remain undefeated in four European ties against none other than Barcelona with a 100% record. They won the Scottish Premier League in 1982/83 and were runners up in the UEFA Cup in 1987. losing out to IFK Gothenburg in the two legged final. Plenty of memories for United fans to cling onto, season 2015/2016 won't be one of them. Inverness have kicked on since the split, beating Kilmarnock and Partick Thistle, scoring seven goals in the process to steer well clear of the play-off place. We have only one defeat in our last six games and four wins. Dundee United have lost their last four league games including a 2-0 defeat by Inverness at Tannadice over three weeks ago. This has signalled the end of their Premiership status and Championship football beckons. Danny Williams could return after injury saw him miss the Partick game. Mind you, his deputy fared rather well and Jason Roberts would be my preferred starter. Iain Vigurs misses another game through suspension and Andrea Mutombo did not disappoint at Partick. Aaron Doran and Alex Fisher are injured. Other than that, we have a reasonable squad to pick from again and could be on similar lines to our last outing at Partick, which means there could be no game for Dave the Rave unless he gets to say goodbye should he not be getting offered a new contract. Dundee United will be guided by assistant Gordon Young after Paatelainen's departure. It appears that only four still to be contracted players are welcome back at Tannadice. Blair Spittal, Simon Murray, Luis Zwick and Scott Fraser. So who knows who will be turning up to wear the tangerine strip that will be missing next year. tm4tj prediction:- United's demise is not our focus, but trying to finish above Dundee in seventh place is a priority as places mean cash for spending. Maybe some of the United players will be out to prove something now that the threat of relegation has become reality. In that respect, they could be difficult to beat, but given our recent form, I would expect us to finish with a flourish against the Arabs and take all three points although we may have to be patient to take the points. Home win by two goals. https://audioboom.com/boos/4527621-ictfc-liam-polworth-ahead-of-dundee-utd-match-05-05-16?t=0

Caley Jags rout sad Partick Inverness jumped into seventh place with a 1-4 rout of Partick Thistle to end our Firhill hoodoo and give Partick a taste of their own medicine for some of the beatings they have given us in recent years. Partick were quickest out of the blocks but it was Inverness that opened the scoring after 14 minutes through Carl Tremarco when Mutombo and Roberts sent him through on goal. Miles Storey added a second just after the break from another Mutombo assist. Josh Meekings knocked in number three with quarter of an hour left. Kris Doolan got a consolation for Partick and that seemed to annoy the Caley Jags as they went up the park and scored a belter from Jordan Roberts to round off the scoring. Yogi produced a surprise change to the starting line-up with Jordan Roberts getting a start ahead of Danny Williams. An enforced change also saw Andrea Mutombo in the starting X1 with Iain Vigurs suspended. Partick had Ryan Scully in goal for the injured Tomas Cerny and Inverness targets Abdul Osman and Steven Lawless started. Mathias Pogba was on the bench. Old Caley Girl has this report for us................ The Caleyaway faithful rolled up to Firhill in smallish numbers for the last Saturday awayday of the season. There was an air of optimism in the stadium bar, probably due to the sunshine, as this was Partick away after all which is never a happy hunting ground for us. Or so we thought…. Your first choice match reporter IHE failed in his endeavours to attend due to the inability of public transport in the UK to actually work. Sorry Johndo you missed a cracking display and a day out! Pre-match the news greeted us that Jordan Roberts had returned to the first eleven. He certainly didn’t disappoint! The first half started in an uneventful fashion with both sides having a few chances in what was a good open game. It was clear that ICT were playing a more pressing game than of late and in 14 minutes fans favourite Mutombo split the Partick defence open allowing Carl Tremarco to race from the halfway and slot home. Carl has been threatening to score for weeks but it was worth waiting on. The game changed following the goal and it was all ICT but despite several chances the score remained with us only one ahead. Half time: Partick 0 – ICT 1 Caleyaway had barely got back to their seats with their steak and ale pies when we went further ahead. Miles Storey nicked the ball past the keeper and slotted home into the right hand corner. From then on the chances kept coming. This was ICT at their best. Pressing forward at pace and first to every ball. The ball hit the post several times and it was if it just wouldn’t go in again when in 76 minutes an assist by Greg Tansey found Josh Meekings who slotted ball into the right hand corner from the centre of the box. At this point the boos from the home support would have been heard in Inverness and the stand to our left emptied. A lot of abuse was shouted by the home crowd at their keeper Scully but if it hadn’t been for several fine saves the score would have been 8 or 9 for us at this point. In 83 minutes Richie Foran replaced Storey who left the field to loud cheers. A few seconds later Partick ruined our clean sheet plans with Doolan scoring a consolation goal. Owain Fon Williams protesting loudly he had been fouled but the ref wasn’t listening. If Partick had any hopes of turning this around they were dashed a minute later. A pass from Foran found Jordan Roberts in the centre of the box who unmarked thumped the ball home making it 1-4. At that the score remained. What a second half display, possibly the best of the season. Full time: Partick 1 – ICT 4 Didn’t really see this one coming tbh and begs the question why haven’t we seen this enough this season? Hard to pick a man of the match as everyone played their part well. If had to pick it would be between Tremarco, Mutombo and Draper with my final vote to Mutumbo. Roberts and Storey were both shown yellow cards during the match for not very much. Funny moments worth a mention go to the young lad who decided to do a one man pitch invasion in the second half. Ran on hugged Draper (a selfie wouldn’t have been out of order at this point ha ha) and then hobbled off having probably injured himself jumping over the stand wall. Chant of the day goes to “You’re just a s**t Paul Pogba” to his hapless brother Mathais who had slammed the ball into the stand in frustration. I’m sure the noisy support and drumming is much appreciated by our players tho. All in all a good day out for Caleyaway. If you can’t make Hamilton see you all next season. Cheers Video from SPFL website here https://www.youtube.com/user/splofficial Date: 30/04/16 Venue: Firhill Stadium, Glasgow Attendance: 2609 Referee: Euan Anderson Partick Th: 1 Lineup: Scully, Dumbuya, Seaborne, Lindsay, Booth (Elliott 63), Welsh, Osman, Edwards (Pogba 52), Amoo (Wilson 68), Lawless, Doolan Subs (not used): Gallacher, Miller, Frans, Nesbitt Scorers: Doolan (83) Booked: Edwards (32), Pogba (75) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 4 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Draper, Devine, Tansey, Roberts (Hughes 90), Polworth, Mbuyi-Mutombo (D.Williams 84), Storey (Foran 82) Subs (not used): Esson, Wedderburn, Horner, Raven Scorers: Tremarco (14), Storey (46), Meekings (76), Roberts (85) Booked: Roberts (22), Storey (31) Sent Off: none

Killie Pay The Penalty. Inverness eased any lingering doubts about their Premiership status for next season with a resounding 3-1 win over troubled Kilmarnock who are now looking like favourites for the play-offs. This game hinged on a penalty for Inverness and a red card for Kilmarnock keeper Jamie MacDonald less than ten minutes into the second half. Kallum Higginbotham had given the visitors the lead at the end of the first half and Greg Tansey put away the penalty after the break. Further goals followed from Ross Draper and the outgoing Danny Williams to put Killie in the mire and push us up to eighth in the league. A bright but brisk Sunday morning saw the teams warm up prior to kick off and with the game being televised live there was always going to be a low crowd in attendance. David Raven was a notable addition to the home bench and he was joined there by Andrea Mutombo who gave way to Danny Williams. Other than that, Hughes fielded the same side that drew with Hearts in their last outing. Killie were without Josh Magennis and had prolific scorer Kris Boyd up top as they looked to get themselves out of bother. For what was at stake, it was a rather grim first half with Kilmarnock looking livelier and Inverness content to keep them at bay. The first effort of note came from the visitors when Greg Kiltie smashed a powerful shot a couple of yards wide after ten minutes. Inverness responded on the half hour, and after Miles Storey raced across the front of the box, Danny Williams took over and curled a shot goalwards but Jamie MacDonald pulled off a TV save to deny the Inverness player, parrying the ball to his right. Ross Draper might have done better after a Danny Devine knock down found the big man at the back post, but the ball seemed to bounce high and Draper awkwardly turned the ball onto the outside of the base of the post and past for a goal kick. Five minutes before the break and Meekings fired a shot just over but just when it looked like Inverness were getting on top, Killie scored an excellent goal through Higginbotham. He started the move in midfield and fed Kiltie. He returned the ball to the overlapping Higginbotham who cut inside and placed a low shot from seventeen yards behind Fon Williams to silence the already silent home crowd. In fairness, they did break into a boo for the ear cupped Higginbotham as he celebrated his goal right on half time. Half Time 0-1 It had been a poor first period but that would change after the break as an unlikely hero would emerge from the gloom. Take a bow Conrad Balatoni. The Killie defender would take centre stage when he cocked up a pass back to his keeper. Ross Draper showed a tidy fleet of foot as he reacted to the pass and nipped in to round MacDonald. The keeper brought him down and was subsequently red carded. Greg Tansey was cool though and he smacked the penalty to sub keeper Conor Brennan's right to level things. A disappointed Higginbotham being subbed as a result showed his anger as he left the field. Here's a pic of Greg about to put the ball low down to Brennan's right, the keeper guessing correct but Tansey had enough direction and power to put the ball into the net. That was a game changer if ever I saw one and Inverness looked to take the game by the scruff of the neck against ten man Killie. After some Killie pressure, Inverness got another break when a low curling free kick from Kris Boyd struck the base of the post with Fon Williams at full stretch, the ball rebounding to safety. Meekings missed a sitter from a Storey cross as play opened out, the defender really should have done better as he met the ball at the back post and bulleted his header wide. Maybe he was too close to the post and took his eye off the ball, but it should have been the second. Draper stabbed in number two from a knock down following a corner, the Killie defence failing to clear the ball as the big number eight turned it home. Breathing space followed soon after when Williams ended a thirty nine pass move when he slickly cut the ball home from fifteen yards to spectacularly complete the scoring and take the wind out of the visiting sails, sending them into the doldrums. There was still time for the obligatory scares and heart in mouth moments. Killie were not completely out of it though and they hit the woodwork again when a cross from Faubert wide left bounced off the top of the bar. Not convinced it was a shot, but it almost sneaked in, a throwback to the Motherwell game, fortunately, this time the ball stayed out. But the damage had been done and Killie were by now stretched and bedraggled as the game wore on and we looked to capitalise on numerous surges forward. However, the score stayed at that as we saw out the remainder of the game, and the home fans were pretty pleased. Full Time 3-1. The best and worst on display here. A first half littered with inactivity and a sucker punch goal and a second half full of attacking options and a tremendous team goal to round off the scoring when Williams finished a 39 man move, where ball retention was lasting for ever. Ross Draper was my MotM. Scoring one, setting up another at the penalty and generally driving Inverness forward at every opportunity, especially in the second half. Carl Tremarco was at his best as well and Danny Williams showed what we will miss next season. Good three points ultimately deserved but it took the penalty and sending off to ignite our fires. After that there was only going to be one winner, although Killie, to their credit, almost got a second through Boyd, but I always felt we could get another if required; It wasn't and we didn't so 3-1 it was and a welcome three points. Big cheer for David Raven when he trotted out to warm up. Take note Yogi, the fans are on his side. video from SPFL website https://www.youtube.com/user/splofficial Date: 23/04/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 2228 Referee: John Beaton Inverness CT: 3 Lineup: Fon Williams; Meekings, Warren, Devine, Tremarco, Draper, Tansey, Polworth, Vigurs (Mbuyi-Mutombo, 74), D. Williams, Storey Subs (not used): Esson, Raven, R. Williams, Foran, Horner, Hughes Scorers: Tansey (pen.55), Draper (73), D.Williams (76) Booked: Tansey (23) Sent Off: none Kilmarnock: 1 Lineup: MacDonald; Faubert, Addison, Balatoni (Ashcroft, 77), Hodson, Higginbotham (Brennan, 53), Dicker, O'Hara, McKenzie, Kiltie (Obadeyi, 77), Boyd Subs (not used): Findlay, Henshall, Taylor, Frizzell Scorers: Higginbotham (44) Booked: none Sent Off: MacDonald (53)

Cards on the table ahead of Partick game 　 We are off to a ground where we have historically struggled to get the better of the home side. It's Firhill for thrills as we visit Partick Thistle in the battle to finish the best of the rest. Inverness have laid there cards on the table in terms of a bit of transparency regarding how we have been and will conduct our business over the coming months. They have issued a long statement giving reasons for the way the club used the monies during the season to reinforce the squad with injuries being a major factor in our larger than normal budget. There's little point in me telling you what was in the Board update for the fans, so here it is in it's entirety if you have not already read it. http://ictfc.com/news/team-news/1745-board-update-for-fans Published: Thursday, 28 April 2016 17:55 Caley Thistle are to finalise pre-contract agreements with at least two incoming players in the next couple of weeks. In addition, new contract offers were extended to goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams, Danny Devine and Liam Polworth. We know that Danny’s decision is imminent and, following positive discussions with Liam and his agent today, we can confirm that we have agreed terms with Liam regarding a 3 year deal meaning he will be at the club until the summer of 2019. Seven other players are already contracted for the new season. The management team has identified the players within the existing squad they want to retain next season and approaches will be made in the coming week, after which contract offers will be agreed. Other members of the squad will be playing in our remaining games for the opportunity to stay at Inverness, so it is important they do all they can to catch the eye. Squad stability has played a massive part in our recent success and we need to build on that and retain existing key players wherever possible. In saying that…the forthcoming departure to Dundee of Danny Williams and James Vincent is freeing up squad spots for new recruits. At the instigation of the management team Danny was offered a new deal in mid December, but this was not taken up. We wish them both well, they have made a big contribution since joining the club in the summer of 2013 and we have great respect for both. Steps have been taken to improve club recruitment after the unavoidable loss of Graeme Shinnie, Marley Watkins and Edward Ofere. Success puts our players on the radar of others and we must replace them within the budgetary constraints of the club. This happens in football and we are no different to many other clubs in that respect. We know the next diamonds are out there - we just need to seek them out, take them in and polish them up as we have done in the past. After winning the Scottish Cup and qualifying for Europe, this season has seen the club’s largest-ever playing budget. The cost of a 25 strong first team pool was far in excess of anything we have experienced at the club, but it was deemed necessary under the circumstances. Eleven of the first team squad were out injured simultaneously earlier in the season and key players Gary Warren, Josh Meekings, Richie Foran and Dave Raven have only recently returned to full fitness. Dean Brill is back training and getting valuable game time with the under 20’s and Aaron Doran is making excellent progress having been unavailable since our European games. Alex Fisher has returned to the club after spending some rehab time at St Georges, down south, and is also progressing well and we are entertaining high hopes that he may return before the end of the season. Consistency of player availability has long been a feature of our success in recent years, but unluckily we were blighted by numerous injuries to key players this time round. Unfortunately, as we all know and appreciate, players will sustain injuries and there’s little point in feeling sorry for ourselves over this. It is the responsibility of the management team to replace them and the Board have provided the finances required this season to enable this. Miles Storey has proved to be a good loan signing. We paid a healthy fee to Swindon Town in January to extend his loan to the end of the season, which was a further financial investment. We would like to keep Miles, and we know he is keen to stay. However, given his age his parent club will have first call on him so this is out of our hands at the moment. The management team were provided with their initial budget for next season some time ago and following last weekend’s excellent result against Kilmarnock we can now be fully focused on our plans for the next campaign and ensure that the signings of both current and new players are made as soon as possible. It was a disappointment to us all to miss out on the Premiership’s Top Six. This provides attendant challenges but on a more positive note, next seasons budget will remain similar to this seasons initial outlay. We will, as ever, be pushing hard to finish as high as possible and endeavour to bring some cheer to our fans. We thank you for your continued support which we value greatly and look forward to next season. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ So, there is some great news in there with contract negotiations and Liam Polworth is onboard until 2019 and Owain Fon Williams signed up and Danny Devine about to put pen to paper. I presume we will just have to wait and see if David Raven will be retained. Anyway on to todays match and the usual daunting task of trying to take something from Firhill. It's season 2009/2010 since we last won a league game at Firhill, although we did knock them out of the Scottish Cup on our way to lifting the trophy last May. That's zero wins in our last four League visits. Incidentally, that win in 2010 was a Championship game where we could call on quality players like Adam Rooney and Jonny Hayes. I wonder what happened to them. It was Adam Rooney that scored the only goal of the game back then. Nostalgia beckons:- Esson, Tokely, Munro, Proctor, Golabek, Hayes, Cox, Duncan, Foran, Odhiambo, Rooney and on the bench, Allison, Sanchez, Ross, Eagle and Nauris Bulvitis. Aye, those were the days. This season we have had two no scoring draws at Inverness and a 2-1 defeat at Firhill. We managed to throw away an early lead when Miles Storey scored in six minutes. Kris Doolan levelled before the break and we lost a familiar late goal when a Ryan Stevenson free kick found it's way into the net in the 90th minute. Meh! We hold a two point advantage over Partick with Dundee one point ahead of us, so it's possible to reach seventh spot today with a win at Partick as it's the Dundee derby tomorrow where United could find themselves officially relegated. Partick keeper Tomas Cerny is still out and Ryan Scully will continue in goal. Callum Booth and Dan Seaborne are back after suspension, but Gary Fraser and Stuart Bannigan are injured and will not feature. Inverness will be along similar lines to last week although Andrea Mutombo could get a start with Iain Vigurs suspended. Dean Brill has had some game time with the development squad and Alex Fisher might play some part before the season ends. If not, he should take up golf. Check him out here, his rehab looking good. https://twitter.com/AlexFisher37?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw tm4tj prediction:- With relegation all but erased for both sides, this could be a more open game and that might free up space for the pacey Miles Storey to capitalise on. Jordan Roberts has been a notable absentee lately along with David Raven and it would be pleasing to see either of these players feature. We have found Partick a particularly tough nut to crack in recent years but with the threat of relegation disappearing, I'm taking Inverness to come home with something. It might just be one point though, but all three are up for grabs and it would be nice to break our Firhill hoodoo. It will be interesting to see how Abdul Osman and Steven Lawless compete as they were alleged targets for Yogi next season along with Stuart Bannigan. I don't think we are losing this one, point at worst, all three on a good day.

Save Dave campaign gathers pace as Killie look to get out of trouble. It's the beginning of the end for two of the bottom six clubs this weekend as Kilmarnock visit Inverness on Sunday in the early kick off at 12:30. Dundee United are almost certainly confirmed as one of the clubs destined for the drop. The best they can do is escape automatic relegation and a play off place would be their only hope of avoiding the drop, but it's a tall order. At the moment all of the bottom six are still mathematically in bother, but the focus is on the bottom three of United, Killie and Accies with Inverness hovering on the fringes. A win today would make it highly unlikely that we would face the play-offs. Defeat would bring Killie to within five points of us with the possibility of Hamilton joining us on the same points total but with a vastly inferior goal difference. Aye it's getting a tad fraught at the bottom as the clubs fight it out to be the best of the rest. In a week where the Queen has been upstaged on her 90th birthday by a Prince, it's time for Inverness to produce their own purple patch and steer clear of the drop. Let's go crazy, we don't want to be playing at a Paisley park next season. Despite all that's going on, the big talking point at the Caledonian Stadium is surrounding a Raven lunatic as the story has been made public that David Raven may not be offered a new contract by John Hughes. His preferred option of spending the cash will be to try and bring in strikers to add some fire power to our punchless squad. The fans are no happy about this situation and feel that Raven is being pushed out while he still has plenty to offer this club and would appear to be content to stay with us. It's a tricky one but this just fuels speculation of a rift within as Raven, although injured of late, looks to be frozen out. On the other hand, at 31 and a season littered with injuries, should Inverness be content to offer Dave a new contract? Either way, lot's of feathers have been ruffled over a Raven and a fans protest could well be surfacing. Back to the game and the clubs have played three times this season with the home sides winning each game. Back in October, Kiltie and Magennis put us to the sword with a 2-0 win at Rugby Park. That was Killie's first clean sheet of the season. We're too kind sometimes. In mid December we returned the favour in the Highlands with a 2-1 win. A Vigurs double put us in the driving seat despite a late consolation by Mark Connolly. Back to Rugby Park in January and Killie triumphed 2-1 when Kiltie opened the scoring only for Draper to level it before the break. However, Craig Slater scored a stunning volley early in the second half to secure the points. At that stage of the season Inverness had opened up a four point gap over Killie, it's now stretched to eight. Killie are not to be underestimated here and we just need to look back to their last game where they trounced St Johnstone 3-0. Worryingly for us, Kris Boyd scored twice and he is a player that knows the route to goal pretty well. Kallum Higginbotham scored the other in a tremendous victory over the side that thrashed Aberdeen on Friday night. Our last outing showed up the very worst of Scottish football as we dug out a 0-0 draw at home to Hearts. A dreadful game where chances were at a premium. Story of our season to be honest. The previous game we eased our relegation fears with a good away win at Tannadice, a result that all but scuppers United but kept us just above the waterline. Yogi has dented his relationship with the fans over the Raven affair and despite Dave being declared fit now, allegedly, he did not appear on the bench against Hearts when he is our recognised right back. Our injury list has all but disappeared, just Aaron Doran and Alex Fisher officially out. Dean Brill has played four or five games with the development squad and it's no coincidence that the young side has been performing better of late. Jordan Roberts has also featured but no sign of Raven anywhere. Kilmarnock should be unchanged although the scorer of said stunning volley Craig Slater could be recalled after illness. However, Steven Smith, David Syme and Mark Connolly are out for the remainder of the season and Chris Johnston is nearing full fitness. tm4tj prediction:- It's getting close to squeaky bum time as points are getting harder to come by. This will be no walk in the park with Kilmarnock's need greater than ours and that will be enough to drive them forward. With Kris Boyd back amongst the goals we need to be at our best defensively whilst also looking to create something at the other end. That's been a season long issue with injuries etc etc etc being cited as the reasons for our demise. It's time to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and get out on the park and put on a display. Yogi needs to put on an impressive performance here and forget about any locker room differences and put our best possible team on the park. Can someone tell him we are not clear of trouble yet and show some desire to get forward. His feathers may have been ruffled by the Raven, but it's not about one player, it's about the team. I'm going for a score draw, with Killie scoring an injury time equaliser, probably emanating from our right back position. Meh! The touchy subject is raised in this interview. Carl Tremarco talks about the visit of Kilmarnock, listen here.

Bore Draw Inverness and Hearts ground out an uninspiring no score draw on a bitterly cold Spring evening in the Highlands where a swirling wind made conditions more suitable for flying a kite. This was one of the poorest games of a dreadful void of entertainment season and the 0-0 scoreline sums up the fare on display. Neither side could make much headway in a game littered with errors and poor passing although Hearts looked the more fluent as we stuttered our way about the park seemingly intent on stifling the Jambo's, but offering little in terms of goalmouth action. It was near half time before we tried our luck as long range efforts from Josh Meekings and Liam Polworth just cleared the bar in a forty-five that was sadly lacking any initiative and ambition. Half Time 0-0 The second period continued in the same manner with Hearts looking the more controlled and the Caley Jags feeding off scraps. Owain Fon Williams made an excellent block after substitute Abiola Dauda burst forward but the keeper kept out his effort as he made his way into the box and tried to clip the ball home. Inverness failed to make any headway at all and the lack of attempts on goal by both sides summed up the evening. Full Time 0-0 This result means that Hearts have qualified for Europe and Inverness remain ninth, but one point further away from the play off position. It's into the split now and we start with a home game against fellow strugglers Kilmarnock on 24th April (12:30 KO). A win in that one should be enough to all but banish the relegation play-offs from our heads, defeat would fuel the speculation that all is not well. Date: 12/04/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3202 Referee: Don Robertson Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Devine, Draper, Tansey, Polworth, Vigurs, Mbuyi-Mutombo (Vincent 46), Storey (D.Williams 75) Subs (not used): Esson, R.Williams, Foran, Horner, Hughes Scorers: none Booked: Vigurs (24) Sent Off: none Hearts: 0 Lineup: Alexander, Souttar, Ozturk, Augustyn, Oshaniwa (Nicholson 80), Zanatta (Dauda 64), Pallardo (Paterson 37), Kitchen, Djoum, Delgado, Walker Subs (not used): Hamilton, Reilly, McGhee, Smith Scorers: none Booked: Walker (21), Djoum (24), Augustyn (48) Sent Off: none

Better Late Than Never. At the third time of asking, Hearts will visit Inverness to fulfil the pre-split fixture list. This game has been postponed because of the weather and called off due to sickness at Tynecastle, but it looks as though it could go ahead this time, fingers crossed. The clubs are separated by twenty points and six places in the Premiership. Hearts have a vastly superior goal difference at +21, the second best in the league whilst we have a negative figure at -3. They are all square this season with home advantage looking like the meaningful factor in these games, both 2-0 wins for the home sides. James Vincent came on as a sub against the Arabs as did Danny Williams but there has been no sign of Jordan Roberts who has looked lively when he has been fit enough to play and that is a concern for the Inverness fans. Iain Vigurs has started to look interested and he scored a thumping goal at the weekend and Andrea Mutombo is a box of tricks. If only he could produce an end product more often. Things are starting to look up and another win will go a long way to banishing all thoughts of relegation in a season where top-six was as likely as facing the drop. Out for Inverness are David Raven who is reported to be almost there and he played 90 minutes for the development squad on Monday afternoon in a 0-0 draw against Hibernian. Aaron Doran, Alex Fisher and Dean Brill are longer term absentees and Yogi will no doubt have the same squad that beat Dundee United ready to go. Hearts could have Callum Paterson back as he nears full fitness following a shoulder injury. Juwon Oshaniwa is available after suspension, but former Inverness player Don Cowie is still suffering from a calf injury. tm4tj prediction:- With Inverness still requiring points to stay clear of the relegation play-offs and Hearts hoping to catch Aberdeen in second place it could make for an interesting encounter. Both clubs had good results last time out with Hearts coming from behind to beat the Dons and Inverness binning Dundee United with ease at Tannadice. We can't now make the top-six but three more points would ease our downward thoughts. Miles Storey is back amongst the goals and our squad is as strong as it has been all season. I'm taking Inverness to take all three points, but it will be close.

Bottom Six It Is. Inverness were confined to the lower half of the league despite an accomplished 2-0 win at Tannadice, a result that pushes Dundee United closer to the drop. Goals in either half from Miles Storey and Iain Vigurs were enough to collect the points and this proved to be an important win with Kilmarnock and Hamilton both picking up vital points in an effort to stave off the dreaded relegation play-off. Only Partick Thistle failed to read the script that would have given Inverness the slim hope that a win against Hearts in midweek would put us into the top-six, alas, they lost in Dingwall, a result that means County make the elite. A rare occurrence, but hey ho. A large home backing came out to see if United could perform the great escape, but like Steve McQueen the end product was just the same. Sadly for them it looks improbable now, but they live in hope. Billy Mckay would spearhead the United attack but there was no sign of Edward Ofere. For Inverness, Greg Tansey returned to the starting X1 with Liam Hughes on the bench and Andrea Mutombo the provider for our target man Miles Storey. Gavin Gunning would provide the comedy show when he picked up the ball and left the field, only for him to return without the ball and collapse to the turf. Scenes. There's no truth in the rumour that he was muttering 'it's ma ball and I'm no playing ............ Full Report to follow............. Date: 09/04/16 Venue: Tannadice Stadium, Dundee Attendance: 6927 Referee: Craig Thomson Dundee Utd: 0 Lineup: Kawashima, Dixon (Murray 37), Morris, Paton, McKay, Rankin, Knoyle, Dow (Fraser 54), Gunning (Dillon 59), Anier, Demel Subs (not used): Szromnik, Erskine, Spittal, Donaldson Scorers: none Booked: Murray (85), Rankin (90) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 2 Lineup: Fon Williams, Tremarco, Warren, Meekings, Draper, Devine, Tansey, Polworth, Vigurs, Mbuyi-Mutombo (Vincent 62), Storey (D Williams 80) Subs (not used): Esson, R Williams, Foran, Horner, Hughes Scorers: Storey (13), Vigurs (50) Booked: Mbuyi-Mutombo (52), Tansey (57), Tremarco (61), Fon Williams (92) Sent Off: none

Last Chance? It's crunch time at the bottom end of the table as Inverness travel to Dundee to take on basement boys United as we enter the Last Chance saloon. An almost surreal situation where we could still make the top-six or face relegation in a season blighted by injuries, lack of signings, tactical disasters, late goals and worst of all, fan expectation after last season where finishing third in the table and lifting the Scottish Cup were the norm. United may be at the foot of the table, but I doubt they are the worst team on current form and it would take a brave man to write them off as the great escape still awaits Mixu Paatelainen and his squad. I also doubt if Billy Mckay would want to see the word relegation on his CV again, having already been involved in Wigan's demise. To be honest, it's quite a daunting task ahead for Yogi's side given our recent results. Defeat last week against Motherwell was disappointing when a freak goal and stoppage time breakaway confined us to zero points and all but killed off our top-six ambitions. United played Partick in midweek and went down 1-0 to leave them with two wins in their last six league games. That's still better than us with one win in six, equalled by Hamilton and bettered by Kilmarnock with none. To be fair to Hamilton, they beat us for that win so that leaves Inverness as one of the contenders for the drop, make no mistake about it. The saving grace could be that we have accumulated seven more points than Killie, and three more than Accies with a superior goal difference over both. United are adrift a further five points worse off than Killie. What can we expect tomorrow? I doubt very much that caution will be thrown to the wind hoping that an unlikely combination of results would catapult us to top half safety. We have struggled all season for one reason or another, but the bottom line is that we are in a dogfight now against other teams in a similar position. Don't expect any favours from any of them this weekend. Andrea Mutombo was a bright spark last week but even his dazzling display could not ignite the players round about him. It was left to full back Carl Tremarco to try and stoke the embers and he almost managed that with two or three efforts that were close to giving Inverness all three points. However, our lack of penetration once more scuppered us as we let Motherwell off the hook and were caught with that very late sucker punch. Unfortunately, something that has happened too often this season. The teams have met twice this season and both games ended all square. A 1-1 draw at Tannadice when who else but Billy Mckay put United ahead in the first half before a Josh Meekeings bullet header squared the game in the second. In the return fixture at Inverness, we had to rely on a stoppage time counter from Lewis Horner to get a point after coming from behind twice. Former players John Rankin and he scores when he wants Billy Mckay scored for United and Liam Polworth got our first, 2-2 the final score. John Hughes has more players at his disposal than he has had all season so the injury excuses are starting to wear thin now. One mystery is surrounding David Raven who has been missing for large chunks of the season. It was reported a week or two ago that he was nearing fitness but he was not on the bench against Motherwell fuelling speculation that he is out of favour. Odd, considering our lack of natural right backs. James Vincent is another on the fringes, but that is less surprising with his and Danny Williams' pending departure for Dens Park at the season end. The main casualties are Aaron Doran and Dean Brill, although Brill has played for the development squad last week. Alex Fisher is another who has been out, but like most of the others he is reputed to be on the mend. Another mysterious omission is Jordan Roberts who looked to have a promising career ahead of him once he got over his injuries, but he too has fallen foul of the bench syndrome, being left there when he might have appeared to be a better attacking option than others. What I can tell you is that Greg Tansey is back after suspension and he will no doubt start against United. The Arabs will be looking to bounce back after the setback at Firhill and defender Coll Donaldson is back after suspension. Mixu has a few knocks to contend with but he is keeping his squad ailments close to his chest. John Hughes audio:- https://audioboom.com/boos/4406812-ictfc-john-hughes-match-preview-v-dundee-utd-07-04-16 Danny Devine audio:- https://audioboom.com/boos/4406811-ictfc-danny-devine-match-preview-v-dundee-utd-07-04-16 tm4tj prediction:- We will do well to take anything from this game. United's urgency for points is greater than ours at this moment in time and that might just be enough to give them the edge. They will be backed by a large vociferous crowd for this one as they have been the last few games as their fans try to help them out, whilst our fans are busy looking for a successor to John Hughes. In Billy Mckay and Edward Ofere they have proven scorers at this level and that is a worry for our goal shy squad. We displayed some neat touches against Well, but the killer instinct is missing and that has been our downfall all season. We went looking for a winner, something that I doubt will happen on Saturday and I suspect Yogi will be content with a point. Survival at all costs even if that means missing out on top-six. Draw at best, but defeat is staring us in the face. We still have the twice postponed Hearts game to play next Tuesday to conclude all games up to the dreaded split. The result of that one could be immaterial depending on the scores this weekend. I suppose it's fingers crossed for a draw at Dingwall and Hamilton beating Dundee. I'm not holding my breath to be honest. First and foremost we need to do the business at Tannadice then take it from there. It's a long shot, probably just too long for us now.

Bad Karma. After Jordan Roberts sensational injury time goal against Motherwell in the cup, Karma came back to bite us on the arse as Motherwell turned a draw into three points with a last second breakaway goal to snatch all the points and consolidate their top-six ambitions. Marvin Johnson scored when Inverness were pushing for the winner and his break saw the defenders scurrying back in vain as he raced through and slotted the ball beyond Fon Williams in the 94th minute, a result that has all but confined Inverness to the relegation contest. A bright April afternoon saw Inverness line up without the suspended Greg Tansey, the more attack minded Andrea Mutombo being the only change from the side that trounced Ross County a fortnight ago. Motherwell were without the injured James McFadden and Stephen Pearson, but the dangerous Scott McDonald and Louis Moult started with Lionel Ainsworth on the bench. The opening exchanges were bright without troubling either keeper, but the dazzling footwork of Andrea Mutombo was a joy to behold as he waltzed around the Motherwell defenders. Unfortunately none of his own team mates knew what to expect and more often than not he would be crowded out by the resolute visiting defence. New Scotland u21 cap Liam Polworth drove one just over the bar after twenty minutes as the posturing continued and it looked promising for Inverness with Mutombo bamboozling everyone, including himself. Liam Hughes got a header on target as Inverness began to press but he could not get enough purchase on the ball and it was an easy gather for Ripley in the Well goal and Mutombo flashed a shot over soon after. Hughes had another header saved before Marvin Johnson narrowly missed with a header low to the left as the game opened out. At the other end Miles Storey went just as close with a similar effort, unfortunately the end result was similar as well and the half closed all square. Half Time 0-0 Same pattern in the second half and Mutombo fired over once more. Mark McGhee made the first alteration bringing on Lionel Ainsworth and Jack Leitch for Cadden and Gomis with fifty-three minutes on the clock, but it was the home side that threatened with Hughes and Meekings heading over. Just after the hour Motherwell took the lead in bizarre fashion. Fon Williams needlessly flapped at a cross from the left and when the ball landed near the feet of substitute Ainsworth, his scuffed shot sliced up in the air. It still looked as though we might get away with it, but with a man on the line, Fon Williams scrambled back but could not keep the ball out as it crept under the bar and into the net, along with the defender. Freaky! We took only eight minutes to restore parity. Andrea Mutombo had a shot saved just after the goal but on seventy minutes Ross Draper belied his size as he dropped his shoulder bursting into the box and was promptly scythed down by the clumsy Keith Lasley. Stonewall penalty and Iain Vigurs stepped up to draw Inverness level, the keeper making his mind up early to go to his left, the ball going the opposite way. Two minutes later and Tremarco stole in at the back post and redirected the ball across the face of the goal, unfortunately just wide of the far upright as we looked likely to take the lead. Five minutes on and Ripley did well to block as Tremarco made ground into the six-yard box, his attempt smothered by the keeper and a defender. Vigurs and Mutombo had efforts at goal as Inveness went for the win in the last ten minutes and that would be our downfall. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Deep into injury time Inverness were still searching for a winner, but after winning a corner Motherwell cleared the ball and Marvin Johnson showed a clean pair of heels as he sped goalwards from his own half. Two defenders were left in his wake and he coolly slotted the ball round Fon Williams and into the net for the winner. Gutted,meh! There was only time left to kick off and it was game over for a frustrating afternoon for the home fans. The visitors were rightly ecstatic and they have virtually confirmed their top-six position. Full Time 1-2 Oh dear, we managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of a draw. Fair play to Motherwell who weathered the onslaught and did what they had to do, but it was a frustrating afternoon for the Highlanders. We can't complain though having meted out similar punishment in the cup game. However, once more we failed to make the most of our superiority and paid the price. Fon Williams needs to take a look at his part in the first goal. Not good enough for the SPFL never mind the Euro Championships. In all honesty it was a fairly open game and one we looked like winning. We lost a freak goal and a breakaway at the end with no time left to recover. We will play worse and win, but the result did not justify the effort. However, the long knives are out as peoples memory fades. That Scottish Cup win is a long time ago it seems. tm4tj MotM is going to Andrea Mutombo who was best aided by Carl Tremarco. Mutombo teased the Well all afternoon with his darting runs and quick feet. Unfortunately Motherwell eventually sussed him out and crowded him out on a number of occasions, but he was a delight to watch. If only one of our players knew how to help him out it would have been a dawdle. Tremarco almost ghosted in a couple of times and backed up the attack well. Draper did well to win the penalty after a slack first half but he grew into the game. A couple of testing games coming up within the week. At home to Hearts on Tuesday and away to Dundee United next weekend. Let's get out there and back the team in this miserable climate. Date: 02/04/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3348 Referee: John Beaton Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Meekings (Horner 86), Warren, Devine, Tremarco, Draper, Vigurs, Polworth, Mbuyi-Mutombo, Storey (R.Williams 84), Hughes (D.Williams 73) Subs (not used): Esson, Foran, Roberts, Wedderburn Scorers: Vigurs (pen.70) Booked: Tremarco (40), Draper (82) Sent Off: none Motherwell: 2 Lineup: Ripley, Law, Kennedy, McManus, Hammell, Cadden (Ainsworth 52), Lasley (Fletcher 73), Gomis (Leitch 52), Johnson, Moult, McDonald Subs (not used): Samson, Chalmers, Thomas, Watt Scorers: Ainsworth (62), Johnson (94) Booked: McDonald (89) Sent Off: none

Steelmen are no fools Rejuvenated Motherwell are the visitors as we enter April, a month where fools are tolerated, but just for one day. Going into this game, Inverness trail Motherwell by five points thanks to the Steelmen winning five of their last six games. In stark contrast, we have won only once in our last six as we struggled for some consistency. But what a win it was, 0-3 in the local derby as we crushed Dingwall at the Global Energy Stadium. Top-six looks just out of our reach, but we will have a better understanding of it after the results this weekend. It's almost out of our own hands. Defeat would probably end our aspirations. However, there are six teams vying for three places with St Johnstone, Motherwell and Ross County in pole position. We started our domestic season with a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Motherwell but we have the edge over them since then with a 3-1 league win and a 2-1 Scottish Cup win, both games at Fir Park. However, it looks as though Mark McGhee is turning their season round as they have surged into the top half of the table, leaving the relegation battle for others to contend. The last games for either side were fantastic occasions. Motherwell came from behind to beat the once famous Aberdeen. Second half goals from Scott McDonald and Louis Moult overcame a Kenny McLean penalty to secure the points and move Motherwell into fifth place in the league. Something that looked a long way off a couple of months ago. We kept our best performance of the season for Ross County to ensure the Highlands are still ours. We appeared to abandon our error strewn mis-passing game and the direct route paid dividends as we scored three tremendous goals. Miles Storey scored the pick of the bunch with a tremendous volley after great control of a long ball on his chest. Not only did he score, he was running at the County defence all afternoon and a worthy MotM. John Hughes has more choice available after the international break with James Vincent and Andrea Mutombo at his disposal. Still out are Aaron Doran, David Raven, Alex Fisher and Dean Brill, with Greg Tansey serving a one match ban. Mark McGhee can call on the returning captain Keith Lasley and defender Ben Hall to bolster his squad. However, James McFadden is out after breaking his ankle in training and Stephen Pearson and Louis Laing join him on the sidelines. tm4tj prediction:- If we continue where we left off at Dingwall, this should be a walk in the park. Unfortunately our season has been littered with disappointments and nothing is guaranteed in this league. With Motherwell on a roll and Inverness upping their strategy, this could make for an entertaining game. Both sides will be looking for maximum points and that should open the game up and make for plenty of opportunities. Miles Storey will have gained in confidence after last weeks performance and Liam Hughes showed us the value of a giant front man. With Josh Meekings back in defence things are looking up. We will need to shackle the Wells' top scorer Louis Moult as he has a habit of scoring against us. I'm going for a home win

Derby Day 　 It's over the bridge on Saturday as dethroned Inverness take on League Cup winners Ross County at the Global Energy Stadium. It's a big day for County as they have a parade immediately after the game to show off their recently acquired silverware. Would it be rude of us to actually turn up and have the temerity to win. That would be highly unlikely given our recent demise, but it is a derby and points are now at a premium. We slumped out of the Scottish Cup on Wednesday night against Hibernian, a result as much to do with team selection as the performance on the park. Yogi mysteriously kept his fire power on the bench when we needed to score goals to progress. Baffling decision and that needs to change if we want to harbour any thought about taking points from Dingwall. County of course beat Hibernian to lift the League Cup and followed that up by drawing at St Johnstone in midweek, coming from a goal down to get a point. They achieved that by virtue of a spot kick converted by Brian Graham. Current form will show that Inverness are on the slide with only one point from our last five League games, that being the 1-1 draw at Dens Park. That goal is the only one scored during this slump and we have conceded eight. County are on a high just now, two wins and a draw in their last five and the added boost of winning the Cup last Sunday. County are in fourth place with 40 points while we languish in ninth with 33 points. How times have changed. Inverness still have half a dozen casualties but it was good to see Josh Meekings and Richie Foran do ninety minutes in midweek. Let's hope they show no reaction to that. I also hope that Jordan Roberts, Miles Storey and Danny Williams will be on the park sooner than they were against Hibs. Greg Tansey returns after missing the Cup debacle through suspension. Ross County rested a few in midweek, namely Alex Schalk, Liam Boyce and Ricky Foster and they will be contenders for a start on Saturday. Scott Fox and Craig Curran are still out. We have already beaten County twice this season although they won at Inverness en-route to their League Cup triumph, but confidence is low at the Inverness side of the Kessock Bridge and with John Hughes tinkering with team selection then it's anyone's guess what Caley Jags team will turn up on Saturday. tm4tj Prediction:- Oh my, I fear for us if we allow County to settle on their own turf. I see no reason to believe that we can change our recent pattern of creating nothing over ninety minutes and with County in party mood then we will do well to hang on in there. Heart says a point, head says we will get thumped. Meh.

Down Down Deeper and Down. A Status Quo song kept coming into my head after watching us slip to another defeat against one of the relegation contenders. Yes, we really are in the shit. Hamilton somehow won the game 0-1 despite us having numerous chances to score but as is the norm these days, we failed to trouble the keeper and paid the price for over elaboration around our own box. Carlton Morris notched the only goal of the game as the visitors broke forward after Ross Draper lost the ball. A crowd pulling initiative brought plenty of youngsters to the game with the away end sparsely populated, the Accies fans reluctant to travel far to watch this drivel. I don't blame them to be honest. Yogi's hands are tied at the moment with suspension and injury robbing Inverness of a settled side. Warren and Tremarco were suspended and Meekings, Raven, Vincent, Doran, Mutombo, Brill, Fisher and Co remained sidelined. This meant a big shuffle for Yogi and he went with three at the back in a bid to accommodate those that were available. As expected the game would turn out to be a non spectacle in the first half, although I have seen worse this season. We did start the better side but it did not take long for the visitors to keep the ball and restrict our forward intentions. However we did forage up the park after fifteen minutes but Liam Polworth blazed a shot over the bar from outside the box when he possibly could have gone deeper into the Accies area. It started to look promising and Jordan Roberts did likewise a minute later. Here we go! Gramoz Kurtaj had Accies first chance of note after twenty-two minutes when he shot just wide, and just before the half hour Michael Devlin might have done better than miss the target with a header. A tribute for Ross Lyall was observed on the thirty minute mark, one minute for every year that Ross lit up this planet with his zest for life. The sixty second applause ringing round the stadium. The game was dire and the play was littered with petty fouls all over the park as both teams struggled to fashion out any clear opportunities, however, just before the interval Dougie Imrie latched onto the ball some 35 plus yards out and his vicious shot whizzed a couple of yards over the bar. Plenty of power as you would expect from the wee man, but not the accuracy. The half ended with Jordan Roberts firing over the bar in an instantly forgettable dirge of a game. Half Time 0-0 We again started the better and Iain Vigurs should have scored with a header after the ball was planted on his head from a Williamsr cross on the left, alas, he tried to glance his header and it went well wide of the keepers left hand post. Inverness were on top of the game since the break but Kurtaj sent a warning as he headed over when Accies broke away. The warning was not heeded though and on the hour Hamilton scored when we lost the ball and Carlton Morris benefited from a Greg Docherty pass to score across the keeper and in off the far post. That was a disaster for Inverness as we all knew what would happen now. Time wasting was a top priority for Hamilton and you can hardly blame them in their predicament, but our inability to put the ball in the net is worrying, in fact we need to get the ball on target before we can dream of scoring. Tansey shot over as our urgency began to sink in and Yogi shuffled the already shuffled pack once more. Jordan Roberts being replaced by Richie Foran. Miles Storey would be next to come on as Liam Polworth was hooked, but Accies were doing their level best to disrupt play at all costs. Petty fouls and substitutions were the only things that broke the monotony of time wasting as McGovern took every goal kick to the opposite side of the box and Imrie getting as far away from the dugout before being subbed. Yawn! With Foran on we looked a bit more direct but were always going to be susceptible to the odd breakaway and we had Fon Williams to thank for keeping out one such attack as he blocked a low shot from sub Darren Lyon. We went for broke in the last quarter but a couple of times the ball would just not roll for us in the box. A couple of melee's and stramashes followed but nobody was able to dig the ball out from the congested Accies penalty box. The final straw came in another scrambulation (I like that new word) when Nat Wedderburn poked his toe at one such bobbling ball in the box, but it bounced off the keepers left post and that was the straw that broke the donkeys back. Fair play to us, we kept going to the end but it was apparent our luck was out today as Tansey blazed over, as did Draper and a Devine header sealed our fate. Full Time 0-1 Well done Hamilton, the masters of time wasting, niggly fouling, timely play acting and disruption. I'm not being bitter, just realistic. We have brought all of this on ourselves and nobody else is to blame. I understand our plight with injuries suspensions etc, but we do have players capable of better. Our back line would not have started today had we had all of our players fit. That's football and we have to get on with it I'm afraid. In saying that, we have played worse and won, but it was back to the typical Hamilton v Inverness encounter after the last one broke the mould. Best of a bad bunch were unlikely contenders in Nat Wedderburn, thrown in at centre back but stuck to his task and always tried to play football. Lewis Horner who is growing on me and Ross Draper who will be disappointed at the goal. Fon Williams did well but was left exposed at the goal. Foran injected some urgency once he came on but it was too little too late. That result leaves us in the mire. Accies have drawn level on points with us and with Killie losing they stay five points adrift in the relegation play off place. Yes, that word relegation has overtaken the top-six word. We can do better, but that needs to start right now, beginning with a result in the Cup against Hibernian to boost our confidence, however avoiding relegation is the important thing here or it will be a bit of Status Quo whether we like it or not. Video from Caley Jags TV...................... Date: 12/03/16 Venue: Caledonian Stadium Attendance: 3510 Referee: Steven McLean Inverness CT: 0 Lineup: Fon Williams, Horner, Wedderburn, Devine, D.Williams, Draper, Tansey, Polworth (Storey 71), Roberts (Foran 64), Vigurs, Hughes Subs (not used): Esson, R.Williams, Brown, Maclennan Scorers: none Booked: Devine (48) Sent Off: none Hamilton Acc: 1 Lineup: McGovern, Gordon, Devlin, Tagliapietra, Kurakins, Imrie (Boyd 86), Gillespie (Lyon 69), MacKinnon, Kurtaj (Redmond 73), Docherty, Morris Subs (not used): Martin, Diaby, D'Acol, Brophy Scorers: Morris (59) Booked: Imrie (62), Gillespie (62), McGovern (93) Sent Off: none

Crucial stage of the season. From looking at securing a top-six place only a few weeks ago, Inverness have hit the wall and are now staring into the abyss which is the relegation dog-fight, and this game has now taken on crucial proportions. Only one point gained in our last four games, all away from home, has seen us spiral out of control down the table. We are now in ninth place only five points of the play off place currently occupied by Kilmarnock. Last season is history and we need to get the proverbial finger out and stop moving sideways and backwards. How nice would it be to take a leaf out of Pele's book and go gung ho once in a while? Unfortunately we appear to be one of the poorest sides in the division at the moment, and unless Yogi can rethink his tactics and take the game to Accies, we could be in major trouble. Should we lose to Hamilton, they will join us on 33 points and with Dundee United starting to perform, the games after the split will be challenging to say the least. With our style of play inviting trouble onto us and a complete lack of attacking flair and creation, it is difficult to see where the rot will stop. On a positive note, Accies can match us in terms of being rubbish of late with just one win in their last fourteen games. The lowlights being an 8-1 hammering from Celtic and that 4-1 Scottish Cup defeat at the hands of the mighty Annan Athletic. We won the last encounter with Hamilton 3-4 in an amazing topsy turvy game full of sensational goals, Liam Polworth scoring a screamer in injury time after we looked to have thrown away a two goal lead earlier in the game. In the first game in the Highlands, Accies came away with all three points after a frustrating 0-2 win. Inverness were caught out having missed numerous good opportunities in our Dani Lopez days and Carlton Morris and Louis Longridge did the damage, although our self inflicted sloppy possession game was already evident this early in the season. Little has changed since then and that is why we find ourselves in a spot of bother. It's difficult to get too enthusiastic over these games given our reluctance to entertain, but we have brought much of the negativity on ourselves and now find it difficult to play open attacking football as the threat of not losing is greater than the desire to try and win. Yogi said after the defeat in Perth that it was difficult to create anything once we went down to ten men. Hello John! I have news for you. We never created anything with eleven on the park, so what's new. We are still suffering through injuries, illness and suspensions, but that has been going on all season and we are running out of excuses for our inability to see out games. Inverness will be without the suspended Carl Tremarco and Wednesday's red card villain Gary Warren. Miles Storey and Andrea Mutombo missed the Perth game through illness and the long awaited return of Josh Meekings and James Vincent has yet to materialise. Same old same old with injuries although Richie Foran appeared on the bench in midweek but he never got off it. Hamilton have their own red card victim. Jesus Garcia Tena is suspended but Danny Redmond is looking to return to the squad after injury. Martin Canning is still short of fitness after his lay off. tm4tj Prediction:- The only prediction I am willing to make is that we will pass the ball sideways and backwards and create next to nothing without troubling the goalkeeper. Hamilton will defend in depth and waste time from the off. 0-0 draw on the cards and if I am wrong so be it. The life of thirty year old Inverness fan and local Filth DJ Ross Lyall will be celebrated in the thirtieth minute at tomorrows game with a minutes applause . The young man who packed a lot into his life and had so much to look forward to sadly passed away last week. Ross was a regular at his beloved Caley Jags games where he will be missed by his many friends. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends at this difficult time and we would like all to respect Ross 30 minutes into the game. RIP Ross Lyall.

Entertainment in Perth? Immortal Howden Ender has penned this Preview as the games come thick and fast, almost catching us out Read on, here's Johndo's Preview........................... Placed in a "new topic" due to indolence and memory impairment of a certain ageing administrator Didn’t we have a lovely time the day we went to St Jones Town ? Well the answer is a bit of a yes and a no. The stadium itself and the facilities are above average, the stewarding is usually friendly but it is not in a location where train travel is the preference. If you are not travelling by the roads it is a nightmare. Social club and local hostelries are rather dull as well. But there again there is the football to entertain you. According to the stats we have won only 3 out of our 14 meetings in Perf. A worrying statistic is that we have only conjured up 10 goals in those 14 matches, an average of 0.71 per game. Although that sounds about right for this season !! We have had two draws and a loss since the Gary Warren winner in February 2014. We have also lost 4 points because of last minute lapses in two of those ties. Lets hope we keep our concentration tonight and not throw away any vital points. If we beat them by two clear goals we will leap frog them and back into the Top Six. With Hamilton at home coming up on Saturday four to six points would be heaven sent and maybe ease the nerves for the Hibees cup replay. Lets hope we can go somewhere meeting our record 3-0 win in Perth and avoid the record 4-0 drubbing. Games at McDiarmid Park will last in the memory of many. The Challenge Cup win over Airdrie and the final defeat by Dundee – although the first 45 was possibly as good an ICT performance as there ever has been. My favourite game was the 2-1 win in August 2003 when we were treated to the David Bingham show plus a classic goal and celebration by Stevie Hislop. We had a remarkable away record in 2010 when we remained defeated for the whole year but went down 1-0 on 02/01/2011 in Perf. But of course the favourite St Jones Town memory will be of 15/05/2004 and the helicopter trophy arrival at the Dump after goals from Ritchie, Bingham and Wilson. Or perhaps fond memories of a defeat in the Alan Hercher Testimonial in 1997 when we had to loan them Fridgie for the night as they forgot to bring a keeper. Doubt if the same fate will befall Ryan Esson tonight. Lets all hope that we return to playing four at the back tonight and stop playing like obsessive crabs. It will be interesting to see if Horner and Mutumbo return after their super-sub performances. I do feel that Miles Storey needs to be rested. And will we finally see Meekings and Vincent back on the bench. IHE Prediction – always seems to be low scoring affairs of late – only 6 goals in the last 4 matches. My heart says 1-0 to us but my head says 1-1. I would gladly take either of those.

Tynecastle Test Inverness make the first of two consecutive trips to the capital with a Tuesday night game against Hearts at Tynecastle in a 19:45 kick off. On Sunday we continue our mission to retain the Scottish Cup at Easter Road, but it's the Tynecastle game we will concentrate on for now. Hearts sit comfortably in third place in the Premiership on 47 points, fourteen ahead of Inverness who are just outside the top-six, but theoretically could jump into fourth place with a win over the Jambos. The Gorgie side are the second top scorers in the league and can also boast the second best defensive record as well. They have just one defeat in their last nine league games, at the hands of a battling Dundee United, although four of the other eight games were draws. Inverness are in the congested area between fourth and eleventh, separated by just eight points, and a quick learning Dundee United who are making a late charge to stave off relegation. We have two defeats in the last nine games with three wins and four draws, so there's not that much between the sides in terms of current form. In the only meeting between the clubs this season, Inverness recorded their first win in a 2-0 victory over the much fancied Hearts side. James Vincent opened the scoring that day and Miles Storey opened his account on his debut. How we could do with some more goals from our young striker now to end his barren spell. No goals in nine games since he scored against Ross County on January 2nd. I'll discount his credited goal against Motherwell as it was clear that Steven McManus knocked the ball home, Miles was miles away from the ball. Losing a two goal lead against their bitter city rivals Hibernian, then losing the replay will have knocked the confidence from Hearts young squad somewhat. That was followed by a 2-1 loss at Tannadice, although the Arabs are on a bit of a resurgence, but nonetheless their form has been more erratic in recent weeks which will give Yogi's lads plenty of optimism about facing Hearts. Robbie Neilson had made five changes to the side that faced Kilmarnock from the previous game. Callum Paterson could shrug off a shoulder injury from the Killie game and Jordan McGhee is free from suspension having missed the win over Killie. Liam Smith is ready to fill in should Paterson not recover in time. Otherwise, Hearts should have an unchanged side unless tactical changes are made. John Hughes conceded that we played second fiddle to Dundee, especially after we went ahead, and will be looking to change that. David Raven has missed the last three games with Lewis Horner deputising. Josh Meekings, James Vincent and Alex Fisher are out with Foran and Doran on the permanent casualty list. Andrea Mutombo missed out at Dundee, but that was seen as precautionary with bigger games coming up. Danny Williams will start in place of the suspended Ross Draper. tm4tj Prediction:- Well, if we try to defend in depth against the free scoring Jambos I fear for our goal difference. We struggled badly at Dens Park looking to hold what we had, but we surrendered territory and paid the price at the end. Jordan Roberts will be a key figure for us along with Miles Storey, but it's our defence that will have to work hardest to keep the eager Tynecastle lads at bay. Our midfield should be able to compete with a Don Cowie fuelled Hearts engine room and that will be another important area where we need to challenge well and set the ball rolling. Sam Nicholson and Jamie Walker will be lively customers and we have to make sure they are not given the freedom of Tynecastle, but with Osman Sow off to China then we might have enough to stifle the free flowing Jambos. Score draw at best, but we need to be on our toes until the final whistle. A win would be a huge bonus, defeat keeps us deep in the mid-table dog fight.