Inverness Caley Thistle
v Raith Rovers
Raith Rovers manager John McVeigh lifted his conversation yesterday away from the normal area of groin strains and hamstring pulls that usually tends to dominate the talk on a Friday.
Instead, as he stepped onto the team bus to head north for their first-ever meeting between the sides since the new Inverness Caledonian Thistle were formed, he dwelt on the geographical position of the Highland town. He said: ''That fact has got to come into the thinking of every team which meets Inverness at their own ground.
''It is not a good idea to travel north on a Saturday morning. We are on our way now and this will give us the opportunity to settle into our hotel, and we can have a night's sleep and relax tomorrow before the game.
''That is a much better way to prepare for what will be a difficult game. We know that Inverness have been doing well recently and that we must be at our best tomorrow to lift the points. We, for our part, have played well in a number of games, but then have had our own disappointment.''
However, Raith's task today has not been made any easier with a lengthy injury list, which includes defenders Paul Agnew and Kevin Gaughan and forward Paul Shields. McVeigh remarked in a resigned manner: ''Brian Hetherston even got injured in a reserve match this week.''
However, this will open the window of opportunity for others and one of these will be young striker Andrew Stewart, who has been doing well in the reserve side and could be asked to play an important role today.
Inverness are proving to be more difficult opponents as each week passes and manager Steve Paterson has a strong squad to choose from. He observed: ''I believe that we are now finding our feet in this division and it is up to us to build on our last home game here, which we won.''
Certainly, the fans of this Highland club are looking for a good performance from their side this afternoon as an indication that they can begin to climb the first division table.
BOOKIES' VIEW: Inverness CT 6-4, Raith 13-8, draw 13-5.
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