MATCH PREVIEW: INVERNESS VERSUS SAINTS

MATCH PREVIEW: INVERNESS VERSUS SAINTS

26th July 2016

PHOTO: Michael O'Halloran trains alongside John Sutton and Brian Easton on Friday afternoon.

As St. Johnstone travel north tomorrow, they will also be hoping for a result to propel them northwards in the league table. They currently sit in 7th position, but an away victory against Inverness Caledonian Thistle (3pm kick-off) could potentially see Saints breaking into the top 6.

The previous three victories (against Hamilton Academical, Dundee United and Aberdeen) have been particularly outstanding. On the other hand, Saints supporters have recently seen their team fall to disappointing defeats against two sides below them in the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership. Kilmarnock emerged as 2-1 winners at Rugby Park in September, and Partick Thistle took all 3 points in a 2-1 win at McDiarmid Park last Saturday.

Whilst results have been inconsistent, the performances have generally been impressive. After a shaky start, the defence has somewhat tightened up (although Saints are still searching for their first clean sheet of the season). At the other end of the pitch, St. Johnstone are proving to be more than a handful for their league counterparts. The team has scored 22 goals in total, the 2nd highest scoring record in the top-flight. Graham Cummins and Steven MacLean have developed a promising partnership which seems to become more and more fruitful as the weeks progress. 'Macca' is currently the league's top goalscorer with 9 goals from only 7 starts.

However, St. Johnstone face a challenging trip to Inverness tomorrow. Like Saints boss Tommy Wright, Caley manager John Hughes was linked with the recent managerial vacancy at Dundee United. Inverness will be relieved that they have successfully managed to retain his services. After a below-par start to the season, it took 7 games for Inverness to find their first victory. A 2-0 win at Hearts has since led to a better run of form, including league triumphs over Aberdeen and Highland rivals Ross County. However, Caley succumbed to a disappointing 2-0 defeat at Rugby Park last week.

Inverness possess a number of threats, but young midfielder Ryan Christie is almost always a constant source of danger. The promising player was recently snapped up by Celtic but will remain at Inverness on a loan basis until the end of the season. Summer signing Miles Storey has been a fairly regular source of goals during recent weeks.

In the last meeting between the two sides, neither team emerged with all 3 points. It ended 1-1 at McDiarmid Park, as an early Ryan Christie goal was later cancelled out by a last-minute equaliser from super-sub Graham Cummins. In truth, St. Johnstone don't exactly boast a favourable head-to-head away record against Inverness . They haven't won a league clash at the Caledonian Stadium since March 2012.

This 'drought' must come to an end at some point. There is no reason to believe that Saints can't put an end to their barren run tomorrow afternoon. Tommy Wright and his team will greatly appreciate the support from those who are able to travel up the A9 towards Inverness tomorrow. Hopefully a morale-boosting league victory can finally lift the boys into the top half of the league table!

Saints fans have been allocated the South Stand for tomorrow's match at Inverness.

Admission prices are: Adults - £21 Concessions (65+ or 16-25 year olds) - £16 U16s - £10

match preview by Ollie Wale

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