Home games against Caley Thistle are the sort of matches we should be looking to win, regardless of the respective form of the two sides. They are a similar club to ourselves and we should be capable of beating them at home, just as they will see this as the sort of away game they should be looking to take three points in. The difference is, Caley Thistle seem more likely to get the result - and always have done.
Our record against them over the years has been abysmal. Aside from our Millennium Champions season, I can't remember a year we beat them in both home matches against them. Admittedly we have managed two wins in a season against them a few times in the SPL and it's ironic we seem to fair better against them since we got promoted than when we were both in the first division! In those days they usually rattled four past us, with Paul Ritchie bagging a few into the bargain.
However, Caley Thistle - despite being the new boys this season - are a stronger outfit than us and have a terrific away record. This is certainly not going to be an easy game - as the match in September proved when they took a comfortable victory. But if we want to start hauling ourselves away from the drop zone, then three points are a must.
Last week's trip to Ayr shows what can happen when you are slightly more attacking in your team selection. OK, it was against a second division side but we scored twice in the first half thanks to playing two proper strikers and Paul McGowan in midfield. It still wasn't that attacking a team selection, but it's a start and it has to continue tomorrow. Craig Dargo was excellent last week and can hopefully produce a similar performance against his former side, while a bit more effort from Michael Higdon wouldn't go a miss.
There is the possibility McGowan could be missing out through injury and if he does it would be nice to see Aaron Mooy replace him, although Danny Lennon must thank that's some kind of swear word. Jim Goodwin will definitely be missing as he's suspended so there could be a start for Hugh Murray due to Paddy Cregg's injury. Hopefully, Jure Travner was just being rested last week as he has to start tomorrow. Without him, we had no left footed players and Lee Mair proved he can't play fullback. Ideally, we'll see David van Zanten start on the other side of defence as Marc McAusland is looking more and more nervous in the rightback role. If Cregg and McGowan do miss out, they are likely to be joined in the stand by fellow injury victims Gareth Wardlaw, Nick Hegarty, David Barron and Garry Brady.
The achievements of Caley Thistle in the last few years are what makes the situation at Saints more frustrating. When they were promoted in 2004 they were never involved in a relegation fight until they went down in 2009. They won't be involved in one this season either, making you wonder how the likes of them and St Johnstone can make a mark when they came up while we are still struggling, still playing survival football. They did have a poor run of form recently - which perhaps makes it inevitable they will win tomorrow!
Of course, there have been plenty of changes since Caley Thistle's original promotion - although they have many of the same players, including Roy McBain, Grant Munro and the much hated Ross Tokely from their rise through the leagues. When they were going through the relegation fight two years ago, they brought in Terry Butcher as manager. Despite being a former Rangers player, I quite like the guy - his post match press conferences can be amusing and he is the only SPL manager so far to come out against the ridiculous proposals for reconstruction.
He also knows how to get the best out of his players. Ritchie Foran is someone he worked with at Motherwell and has been a huge part of Caley Thistle's success in the last few years, while Adam Rooney has been rattling in goals for fun. Johnny Hayes is another talented player and has been tipped to move on at some point in the near future, although with the transfer window now closed he'll be staying in Inverness until the summer at least.
Caley Thistle currently have a former Saint in their ranks in the shape of Chris Innes. The defender was let go in the summer, a move which is looking a mistake in hindsight as we could do with someone like him at the back this season. Admittedly, he has had injury problems so perhaps it wasn't too big an error letting him go. In January, he was joined by Chris Hogg after he was surprisingly released by Hibs. Together, the pair should help form a solid, no-nonsense defensive pairing.
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