Inverness CT -V- Queen of the South - Preview

[tm4tj 2,313]

Third time lucky

 

This fixture is looking like it might beat the pandemic, snow, ice and water and is scheduled to be played on Wednesday evening with a 6:30pm kick-off. That is unless the strong winds force another postponement. 

The original preview is still mostly relevant apart from a couple of fairly serious injuries to a couple of Caley Thistle players. 

First the good news: We have signed Anthony McDonald on loan from Hearts and there is no pitch inspection planned......yet.

Now the bad news: Anthony McDonald is injured and possibly out for most of the season with suspected knee cartilage/ligament damage. Aaron Doran has a torn thigh muscle. Both were injured in separate incidents during training on the artificial surface at the indoor facility and both will be out for a lengthy spell. 

With Kai Kennedy now at Raith Rovers, the new injuries leave us short on suppliers for the strikers. Maybe David Carson will be fit enough to start, but like most of the squad, match sharpness will be an issue. Plenty room for the young team to get back into the starting XI and give Robbo some food for thought. James Keatings was a casualty after 20 minutes of the Arbroath game, so he might be missing as well. It might be easier to check and see who is not fit......

Queen of the South are a different beast from the team we swept aside 3-0 at Palmerston back on the 4th December. Players like Dapo Awokoya-Mebude, Isaiah Jones, Ayo Obileye and Connor Shields are making the Doonhamers tick along nicely and have added a goal threat to the Queens attack. Not household names, but certainly giving the Dumfries side a lift, especially with goal machine Stephen Dobbie missing a few games through injury. Of course, Mebude might have a problem should his partying be deemed naughty. He might have to sit this one out. Up to the officials to sort that one out.

Queens come North on the back of contrasting results. A 2-1 win over Morton, a defeat at Alloa by the same score and an excellent draw against Hearts where it took a 90th minute penalty for the Jambo's to rescue a point.

We enter this game after a 1-1 draw at Gayfield followed by two postponements. 

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OFFICIAL PREVIEW

PPV £10, (cheap at half the price)

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Previously: Queens of the ice age frozen off...***GAME OFF*** (30th January)

Another rearranged game due to go ahead on Saturday afternoon with Queen of the South the visitors. Should snow, ice, rain, covid or road blockages not stop this one, it is scheduled to kick-off at 3:00pm with live streaming available from Caley Jags TV.  Pixie Lott for a £10er.

However, let's not get ahead of ourselves as the words that we all dread have been uttered by the club. "There will be a pitch inspection at 9am tomorrow morning ahead of the match against Queen of the South".  Now there's a surprise! 

It could be an opportunity for us to bounce back after a disappointing draw against the ten men of Morton. Easier said than done given our lack of game time over the last month.

Last 10 Competitive Meetings against Queen of the South back to Jan 13th 2018

3 - 0 (A)

3 - 1 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

2 - 0 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

1 - 2 (H)

3 - 3 (A)

0 - 0 (H)

2 - 0 (A)

3 - 1 (H)

At Cappielow we were without Brad Mckay and more importantly striker Miles Storey. With Kai Kennedy off to Raith Rovers, we were bereft of the guile needed to prize open a stubborn defence, and when we did, a lack of composure ensured we would not run away with the game despite the Ton being a man short for over half of the match. All this has not best pleased Robbo who has let them know in no uncertain terms that it's simply not good enough to just turn up and claim the points.

You tell them John...

Queens are on a bit of a roll since we last played them on December 4th. They took a thrashing at Tynecastle the week after (6-1) then lost to Morton and Dundee. However, since then they beat Raith Rovers 0-2 on 29th December, they have been on the up. Victories over Ayr United, Queens Park and Morton along with a draw against Arbroath have lifted them above Inverness in the table although we do have three games in hand. In fact we have games in hand over everyone, but that does not equate to points in the bag; think Morton in midweek.

Connor Shields is the man on form just now and Queens now seem to have enough talent on board to ease away from the relegation area. Shields has nine goals this season, and more worrying for us seven in the last six games since Xmas.

Team news not forthcoming but Robbo hinted at some changes after the slackness at Cappielow.

I'll keep it short as there is no guarantee the game will go ahead, so look out early morning for any news from ICT FC.

 

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[+Row S 263]

With the snow that has fallen tonight so far it could be the dreaded words we have heard too often this season  "match postponed". 🥶

[+Robert 1,207]

Indeed. It’s stopped now but is likely to freeze and whilst tomorrow looks ok, at 0900 for the inspection the odds are against us. 

[Satan 472]

Stopped now..where?

[+Robert 1,207]

I’m 9 miles east of the town. Clear skies. 

[Satan 472]

Snowing here,  Inverness, where the stadium is.

[RiG 3,643]

Game off.

 

[+Row S 263]

Quite a pile up of fixtures now. The season might have to be extended until June at this rate.

[+Robert 1,207]

9 hours ago, Satan said:

Snowing here,  Inverness, where the stadium is.

OK, just trying to be helpful!

Disappointing to have yet another Saturday game off.

This must be our worst season for postponements in recent years. Someone mentioned summer football recently and it does seem a good idea and worth considering again. Being able to go to a game on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon could attract fans back and even new fans.

Sadly I can’t see it happening in Scotland, although I think the Republic of Ireland does it so it could be made to work and tie in with European club competitions and international commitments, as the whole football set up in the country would presumably need to have the same season. 

Edited January 30 by Robert

[+snorbens_caleyman 527]

28 minutes ago, Row S said:

Quite a pile up of fixtures now. The season might have to be extended until June at this rate.

In that case, would probably have to delay the start of next season.  Everyone deserves a break this summer.

[Yngwie 3,965]

It’s only really us with a large backlog. They’ll just make us play several games a week to catch up.

[+Robert 1,207]

Yes, as things stand we have two rescheduled and two that need dates. The last round of fixtures is on 30 April, so still plenty midweeks, although the cup may impact on that.

We need to get into a good run of form though. Arbroath away on Wednesday then Dundee away next Saturday, so a tough week ahead (weather and Covid permitting). 

[Kingsmills 5,904]

2 hours ago, Yngwie said:

It’s only really us with a large backlog. They’ll just make us play several games a week to catch up.

We don't come from Glasgow and we carry no sectarian baggage.

Two reasons why there will be no special measures to assist us.

[Satan 472]

We don't carry sectarian baggage  but we might be carrying some chips on our shoulders. 

[CaleyCanary 452]

4 hours ago, Robert said:

Being able to go to a game on a warm, sunny Saturday afternoon could attract fans back and even new fans.

When I was a lad we lived in Englandshire for a while and the only games I got to see were in August when spending the summer hols back at my grannies. A lot to be said for summer football and there's always the possibility of attracting some tourists through the gates.

[Jack Waddington 350]

Yeah, I can't see Summer Football being a possibility, due to the Euros running all the way through June and into July. If anything, it's going to be called as it stands in a couple months, more calls for reconstruction and votes going walkies...

[RiG 3,643]

We might actually be able to play a game tomorrow and I for one cannot wait!

By all accounts the pitch is good to go although that news has been dampened by the news that Doran and McDonald are out for a good few weeks with injuries picked up in training. As a result, unless I have missed some other injuries, I can see us lining up along the lines of:

Ridgers
Duffy Devine Deas Harper
Welsh Allardice
Storey Vincent Mckay
Sutherland

Edited February 16 by RiG

[Stirling Observer 460]

Would go with the same as RiG but switch Macgregor with Vincent

[RiG 3,643]

40 minutes ago, Stirling Observer said:

Would go with the same as RiG but switch Macgregor with Vincent

I'd rather MacGregor in there as well but Robbo seems to prefer Vincent for the moment based on the last couple of games.

[CaleyCanary 452]

I was thinking there's an opportunity for Macgregor to get a start tomorrow - hope he does as I've got him down for 1st scorer in Gringo's NPL!

[SteveA 192]

I'd like to see us try -

               Ridgers

Duffy Devine Deas Harper 

               Welsh

     Carson      Allardice

             Keatings 

       Storey Sutherland

 

Edited February 16 by SteveA

[RiG 3,643]

What's the status of Keatings after coming off against Arbroath?

[+Robert 1,207]

Hopefully he is ok as he is not mentioned in the club’s preview:

https://ictfc.com/match-preview-queen-of-the-south-h

[Kingsmills 5,904]

A game of football involving ICT that looks like it will actually take place.

Hallelujah!

[Donald1973 15]

28 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

A game of football involving ICT that looks like it will actually take place.

Hallelujah!

Don't get too carried away.... way it's been going recently Queens bus will break down or there will be a family of large moles appear overnight at the ground