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Tannadice Test Inverness travel to Dundee to take on faltering Dundee United at Tannadice on the back of three successive clean sheets, the Arabs finding the going tougher than their big spending board might have thought. The League campaign kicked off for both clubs back in August when the two sides met at the Caledonian Stadium on matchday one. That game was settled by a softish penalty award when Paul McMullen went down under a challenge in the box. He picked himself up and took the spot kick, scoring the only goal of the game. In all honesty, there was little between the sides other than that goal and some defensive errors from Inverness that gave United further opportunities. It's been downhill for Inverness since then with only one league win, and that against bottom club Brechin. Three draws interspersed with defeats have given us a meagre six points out of a possible twenty-seven. That's relegation form in any division. Recent results have been slightly more encouraging though and the clean sheets breed confidence. The first round of games have been played in the Championship and Inverness find themselves in second bottom place. However there were signs at Falkirk that maybe some progress has been made and a third clean sheet in a row gives the team something to build on. On top of that, we were much more prominent in attack and assured in midfield. The downside was the familiar lack of a cutting edge. Plenty of chances were created, but none taken, and that needs to change soon or we will be cut adrift at the wrong end of the table. The Arabs suffered a 2-0 defeat at Livingston last week, after two good wins over Dunfermline and Morton. They drew with Falkirk and Dumbarton prior to that when they would have been looking to take full points from those games. The defeat at Livingston was their first in seven games. Despite recruiting well over the summer, it's still a tough league to stamp your authority on. Although United have under performed in some games, they still sit at the right end of the table, in fourth place, four points behind leaders St Mirren and a massive eleven points ahead of second bottom Inverness. Both sides have scored ten Championship goals, but United's defence are six better off than us despite our recent upgrade in defence. Inverness are without Aaron Doran, Collin Seedorf, Zak Elbouzedi, big Susan and Owain Fon Williams. Gary Warren and Charlie Trafford might be included in the squad, although both will be sporting hand protection after suffering damaged thumbs. Injuries seem to be hindering our progress once more although Coll Donaldson has shown some form since his introduction at center back. United have a doubt in Dutchman Jordie Briels with a hip injury. Scott Fraser could make the squad after showing no adverse signs on his return to full training, but is not yet ready for the rigours of a match. Paul Quinn is available. Manager Ray McKinnon expects a tough game with Inverness starting to get to grips with life in the Championship, pointing to the three clean sheets in the last three games. tm4tj prediction:- It's a tough place to go to at the best of times, but when your at an all time low then it becomes a tremendous weight on your shoulders and it will be like running in treacle. I'm heartened by the clean sheets, but the lack of a cutting edge counteracts that. I didn't think there was too much between the sides in the opening game, but maybe United afforded us too much respect and sat in a bit. I fully expect a torrid afternoon and unless we have discovered a way to score goals, then a goalless draw is our best bet for a point. I'm not too confident about this one though and we might have to take one on the chin at Tannadice. Home win for me. More details in the Official preview from the ICTFC website.

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.

Point Taken Inverness and Dundee United shared the points in a hard fought 1-1 draw at Tannadice. It was inevitable that Billy Mckay would score against his old club, but Josh Meekings powered home a header just after the break to level the score. It was a glorious day in Tayside as Inverness visited struggling Dundee United at Tannadice. The shirt sleeve weather made it a tremendous day for a game of football and the pitch looked in magnificent condition as the sides took to the park. A decent away support saw Inverness start with a similar side that took to the field against Hearts. News that Tobi Sho-Silva was out injured was a bit of a downer but we were looking to build on our excellent win against the Jambos. Iain Vigurs also missed out but James Vincent and Josh Meekings continued their comeback. United had Billy Mckay in the main strikers role and Darko Bodul and Scott Fraser were the men providing the ammunition. The opening exchanges were fairly even but Ross Draper picked up a booking inside a minute for hand ball. Ryan McGowan fired one just wide after five minutes as United looked for an early opening, and they got the breakthrough after seven minutes. Inverness will feel they could have averted the goal which had a bit of fortune about it and who else but Billy Mckay scored from less than a couple of yards. Familiar territory for Billy who got the break of the ball after a John Rankin close range effort was blocked on the line. Unfortunately for Inverness Billy did what Billy does best and he knocked the loose ball into the net. It looked bleak for Inverness five minutes later when Rankin met a Morris cross about ten yards out bang in the centre of goal. This time we got the break as Owain Fon-Williams spread himself and blocked the ball with his legs. A let off for the visitors and it really should have been two nil for United. Mckay was looking lively early on as we afforded him the freedom of the park, allowing him to link and run directly at the heart of our box. A couple of frantic tackles kept him at bay and he turned and volleyed one just wide. A good effort that could have caught the keeper out, but Fon-Williams soon had to dive smartly to divert a vicious shot from the edge of the box as United and Mckay threatened to run away with the game. We needed half time to arrive sooner rather than later and we reached the break without further damage. Half Time 1-0 Harsh words must have been said over the half time cuppa as straight from the kick off, Ryan Christie drifted goalwards before sliding in Williams who was upended on the edge of the box. Nothing given though and that stung Inverness into determined mode. Following a couple of corners, Josh Meekings rose majestically at the far side of the six-yard box and powered a Christie corner into the roof of the net. Game on! Carl Tremarco was linking well going forward and had a shot savedthe angle before Danny Williams and Greg Tansey lashed shots close to the goals, but just wide. The tide had turned and Inverness looked the most likely to go on and win the game with United reduced to chasing shadows for long spells. Miles Storey was running the lone strikers roll and it was taking it's toll on the lad who gave his all before being substituted near the end, but he looked knackered long before that. Richie Foran replaced Williams with ten minutes left. Scare for Inverness with four minutes of normal time left as United broke out of defence, but despite a swift break the 'goal' was chalked off for offside. Sit down shut up! The game fizzled out thereafter and a point apiece it was in the Autumn sunshine. Full Time 1-1 Maybe not the best of games, but always something happening to keep you interested. At the end of the day, a point each was probably fair enough. United were on top in the first forty five but failed to extend their lead and were rightly hauled level by Inverness who upped their game after the break, no doubt having been ear bashed by Yogi. Billy Mckay was prominent in the first half but faded as we came out stronger in the second period. Spoke to a couple of United fans after the game and we all agreed it was the right result. We were also unanimous in our praise of Scott Fraser who showed quick feet on numerous occasions when in a tight spot. Ryan Christie once more shone for Inverness and Carl Tremarco looked good going forward in the second half. Tremendous header from Meekings to level the game, but Owain Fon-Williams kept us in touch in the first half and he gets my vote as our MotM. Date: 19/09/15 Venue: Tannadice Stadium, Dundee Attendance: 6235Referee: Kevin Clancy Dundee Utd: 1 Lineup: Zwick, McGowan, Morris, Durnan, Dillon, Dow (Spittal 65), Kuhl, Fraser, Rankin, McKay, Bodul (Murray 82) Subs (not used): McCallum, Telfer, Connolly, Taggart, Donaldson Scorers: Mckay (7) Booked: Rankin (28), Bodul (68) Sent Off: none Inverness CT: 1 Lineup: Fon Williams, Raven, Meekings, Devine, Tremarco, Draper, Tansey, Vincent, Christie, Williams (Foran 83), Storey (Polworth 90) Subs (not used): Esson, Lopez, Wedderburn, Horner Scorers: Meekings (56) Booked: Draper (1), Tremarco (10) Sent Off: none

News Storey... After our first win of the campaign last weekend, it's off to see fall guys Dundee United at Tannadice this Saturday, Billy Mckay and all. It does leave a nasty taste in the mouth seeing Billy in an orange shirt, a bit like seeing Graeme Shinnie in a red one, but we have to move on. Miles Sorey could be the man to start a new chapter in the history of Inverness Caledonian Thistle. The curse is strong and anyone leaving will regret it sooner or later. We broke our duck against Hearts in a game that was always interesting and entertaining but never really took off until we scored in the second half. Tidy goals from newly repaired James Vincent and debut striker Miles Storey sent the Edinburgh club home with nothing other than a red card for Oshinawa who thought he could get away with knocking people on the head without repercussion. The plus for us was the return from injury of Vincent and defender Josh Meekings. This allowed Carl Tremarco to play in a more familiar position at left back and Ross Draper was released from his withdrawn role at Centre Back. With new boy Storey showing his pace up front, suddenly the league has become more interesting for Caley Jags fans, and our other new force is Tobi Sho-Silva who could be quite a character to have around. He certainly wanted to get involved in everything on his debut from the bench and is an exciting prospect. Dundee United have taken on the Kilmarnock FC role as one of the frontrunners in the race for relegation. They have gone into free fall since the Dundee derby, losing all four games since then. Their only win was against Motherwell 2-0 at Fir Park and those results have them sitting second bottom on four points, one more than Partick Thistle. Last week they were shocked at home by Killie going down 2-1, Mckay notching his first goal for the Arabs with a spot kick. Who are the men responsible for the demise of Dundee United this season. Jackie Macnamara apart, they have put their faith in Darko Bodul, Coll Donaldson, Mark Durnan, Justin Johnson, Adam Taggart and Aaron Kuhl. Who, I hear you say. Well, here is one name more familiar to us. It's Billy (small k) Mckay. The former Inverness favourite failed to get into relegated Wigans elite squad and is at Tannadice on loan for the season. Darko Bodul has plenty of experience at top European clubs in Portugal, Denmark and Austria and is expected to be the ideal candidate to replace the extrovert Nadir Ciftci. United have more departures than arrivals and Ciftci left for Celtic, surprise surprise. Keeper Radoslaw Ciernziak and Jaroslaw Fojut are back in Poland, Calum Butcher at Burton Albion, Brian Graham and Michael Gardyne at County. Keith Watson, Darren Petrie and Jamie Montgomery dropped divisions in Scotland and Robbie Muirhead has been loaned to Partick Thistle while Henri Anier finds himself at Hibernian. That's a lot of bodies to replace, especially on top of Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Stevens who joined Celtic last season. It's not worked out for United yet and their season got off on the wrong foot, going down to Aberdeen on matchday one. They defeated Motherwell the week after, who we all thought would be a decent benchmark after they thrashed us on opening day. But being pegged back by city rivals Dundee in the derby sparked a run of four defeats on the bounce. We could have the impetus with us, coming off the back of that win over Hearts, but it's a tight league with anyone outside the top two capable of beating each other. Our injury crisis eased slightly over the international break and James Vincent and Josh Meekings returned to the starting eleven. Richie Foran was also in the squad but remained on the bench for the visit of Hearts. We do however, still have an extensive list of first team crocks. Dean Brill, Gary Warren, Aaron Doran, Jordan Roberts are out longer term. Andrea Mutombo sits out his second game for the sending off at Dens Park. United have no fresh concerns, but Jackie is keeping it all close to his chest as we have no further information at time of going to press. tm4tj Prediction:- Things are looking more positive for Inverness after new signings Miles Storey and Tobi Sho-Silva gave us a pacey injection that was sadly lacking since the start of the season. Dani Lopez could find himself on the bench for some time having witnessed the immediate impact this pair provided. With Meekings and Vincent returning to bolster the defence and give us more drive box to box then life's not so bad after all. United badly need a win before the long knives come out for Jackie McNamarra and loan signing and former Caley Jags favourite Billy Mckay is the man they have put their trust in. Confidence is low at the moment though, and I will predict that our away form will benefit from the pace of Miles Storey and that will see us take our second win of the season and leave the United board with a decision to make. Away win by two goals. It's been a tough week off the park for the Tannadice club and indeed all concerned with football. The passing of Ralph Milne has left the footballing world all the poorer. Milne was one of the legendary players for United in the early eighties and our thoughts go out to his family, friends and the Dundee United community. He will always be remembered for that magnificent chipped goal in the Dundee derby that ensured United would win the SPL in 1983. He was a very pacey wide player and was a joy to watch in his prime. Milne played 28 times for United, scoring 75 goals and had been inducted into the Tannadice hall of fame. He played for Charlton Athletic, Bristol City and Manchester United after leaving Dundee United. RIP Ralph Milne 1961 - 2015.