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In the back door We have arrived at the Tony Macaroni via default. We sort of came in by the tradesman's entrance after Queens Park were eliminated from the Scottish Cup for fielding an ineligible player. Step forward Euan Henderson who has now been inducted into the Caley Jags Scottish Cup Hall of Fame alongside some famous legends. Legends like Josh Meekings, James Vincent and Jamie MacDonald. Of course, all of this on the anniversary week of our Scottish Cup exploits in February 2008. Yes, that's the one that spawned the SuperCaleygoballisticCelticareatrocious headline that rocked the Scottish Football world back in the day. Of course since then we now get to keep Celtic by virtue of putting them out of the Scottish Cup on three separate occasions (2000-2003-2015), but it was February 8th 2000 that set the ball rolling. Saturday's opponent are auld enemies Ferranti Thistle, or Meadowbank Thistle or as we now know them, Livingston. Our first fixture against them was the first time they used the name Livingston back in 1995. Many a tough encounter in the lower leagues over the years. Surprisingly our last two encounters were in the group stages of the League Cup and the Scottish Cup where Inverness prevailed in both fixtures. Ahead of the game it was announced the Inverness had won two awards. One of these awards was fully merited, the other is the subject of much discussion and mirth from those that know. So we have the Manager of the Month in Billy Dodds and Player of the Month in Billy Mckay whose five goals in January included a hat-trick at Cove. He is now on 92 goals, only ten behind Sir Dennis Wyness. In fairness to Dodds, he had nothing to do with the voting. Congratulation to both recipients. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Ticket Info & Supporters Bus Championship Awards Billy Mckay Half Price Kit ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Over the years Inverness have edged these fixtures but there's not been much between the sides and Livi have now been able to sustain Premiership football since the start of season 2018-2019 and currently sit fourth in the table. Venue H2H v Livingston Pld Won Drn Lst For Agst + / - Home 19 9 4 6 32 25 +7 Away 21 8 6 7 32 32 0 Neutral 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Total 40 17 10 13 64 57 +7 Deja Vu: The last time we met Livingston in the Scottish Cup was also a 5th round tie, this one was in the Highlands on Feb8th2020. An even first half where both sides had efforts cleared from the goalmouth produced no goals with defences on top. The wind was causing as much havoc as the officials. Sean Welsh fired just wide at the start of the second half, but he made no mistake with a free kick on the hour to open the scoring. Plenty of huff and puff thereafter, but no further scoring and it's the Caley Jags that go into tomorrows draw for the next round. Last 10 Competitive Meetings 2 - 1 (A) 1 - 0 (H) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 1 (H) 0 - 0 (A) 1 - 3 (H) 2 - 0 (A) 1 - 0 (A) 1 - 2 (A) 3 - 0 (H) First ever competitive meeting with Livingston ended in 0 - 3 defeat: Report by Ian Broadfoot: This was Livingston's first league game after their name change from Meadowbank Thistle and they dominated it with their pace and class. They took the lead in 3 minutes when Lee Baillie headed home a Young cross. Home keeper Mark McRitchie got down well in 10 minutes to smother a Young shot but in 32 minutes it was 2-0 when he palmed a McLeod corner into his own net. In 55 minutes it was 3-0 when Baillie headed home a Duthie free kick. Caley Thistle's best chance came in 67 minutes when Christie and Mitchell combined well to put Mitchell through with only Stoute to beat - he tried to flick the ball into the corner but hit the post. Mitchell's frustration showed 6 minutes from the end when he swore at a spectator within earshot of the stand-side linesman. The red card was inevitable. Caley Thistle were disappointed at the result but knew they had been outclassed. Biggest Victories Jan 14th, 2006 League (H) 3 - 0 Jan 22nd, 2005 League (A) 4 - 1 Mar 18th, 2000 League (H) 4 - 1 Heaviest Defeats Aug 7th, 2004 League (A) 0 - 3 Apr 3rd, 2001 League (A) 1 - 4 Aug 12th, 1995 League (H) 0 - 3 The last meeting between the sides was a League Cup group stage match at Livingston last July where Inverness won 2 - 1: Lions Tamed: Livingston had the better of the opening exchanges and Nouble had the ball in the net but was flagged offside. Ridgers was the busier keeper early on but a swift counter attack saw Austin Samuels open the scoring after 37 minutes. Inverness held that advantage until the break. Daniel Mackay bundled in a second shortly after Max Stryjek was sent off for felling Austin Samuels in the box. Jason Holt pulled a goal back late on then proceeded to miss a penalty three minutes later as Inverness saw out the game to win 1-2 and go top of Group G. Last Round: Inverness sneaked through after losing 0-2 to Queens Park. Euan Henderson played and the rest is history. On the field Queens Park were superior to us but off the field they never did their homework and subsequently were removed from the event as Henderson was not signed prior to the original date of the postponed fixture. Livingston eased through after coming from behind to beat Stenhousemuir 1-3. Nicky Jamieson headed Muir in front in the first half but three goals in seven minutes eased Livi into the next round. Scott Pittman and two from Steven Bradley clinched the tie in their favour to set up this game against Queens Park Inverness CT. Livi have only lost one of their last eight games whilst winning four and drawing three. The only defeat was at Parkhead on 1st February. Other than that, they are unbeaten since December 24th when Hibs beat them 4-0 at Easter Road so are on a good run at the moment. Latest Team News It's probably a game we could have done without, however, we are still in the Cup and will have to give it a go. Sean Welsh missed the Morton match and Max Ram has been out for a month. More importantly Austin Samuels, Roddy MacGregor, Shane Sutherland and Tom Walsh have all been out for months and Robbie Deas has a broken leg to get get over. No quick fix unfortunately but on the bright side, Scott Allardice and Cammy Harper have now taken part in three games without any reaction....... hopefully. Ben Woods is a couple of weeks away with an ankle injury. Lewis Nicolson, Ethan Cairns and Robbie Thompson are cup tied for this match. Livi used human battering ram Joel Nouble against Killie lately and he scored the opening goal in a 3-1 win. We had bother with him when he was on loan at Arbroath last season. However, he is just one of a number of powerful players at Livingston that has seen them climb to fourth in the Premiership table. Striker Bruce Anderson is another who seems to have developed well whilst at Livi and is top scorer this season with six goals. Midfielders Scott Pittman and former Ross County player Stephen Kelly make for a powerful engine room at the Tony Macaroni. Former Inverness player Andrew Shinnie could feature in the Lions squad on Saturday. Something that won't feature is VAR. Livi don't think it's worth the hassle of using it as it's not a requirement outside of televised games in the Premiership. Whilst we are on Cup duty this weekend, there are a couple of Championship games to keep an eye on. SATURDAY 11TH FEBRUARY (3:00pm) Morton v Queen's Park SUNDAY 12TH FEBRUARY (2:00pm) Dundee v Cove Rangers