Friday’s televised Scottish Premier League action sees Highland rivals Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Ross County come together at the Caledonian Stadium as the two sides bid to pull away from the lower reaches of the table.
It is the first time the two sides have met in the top tier of Scottish football and they go into the encounter with an identical record in terms of matches won, drawn and lost from their opening eight matches.
Both have one win and five draws, while they also boast a goal difference of minus one, although Ross County have scored and conceded almost half the amount of goals than their rivals.
Caley Thistle boss Terry Butcher has called on his players to become instant derby heroes given that Richie Foran could be the only fit and available home player to have played against County if goalkeeper Ryan Esson is ruled out with a groin injury.
However, the former England captain is confident his players will cope with the demands of a new experience and come out on top.
Inverness also go into the game in confident mood having followed up a 2-2 draw at Hibernian with a comfortable 4-0 victory against basement side Dundee last weekend to make it four unbeaten.
Ross County were unbeaten in 40 league games when they secured promotion to the SPL and have had a reasonable start in the top flight with only two defeats in their opening eight matches.
However, the problem for Derek Adams is the defeats have been in their last two outings – 2-1 at home to St Johnstone and a thrilling last-gasp 5-4 reverse at St Mirren at the weekend.
Having kept things solid at the back, albeit without scoring many goals at the other end of the field, County’s defence uncharacteristically folded against the Buddies and Adams will no doubt be keen to tighten things up again for the trip to Inverness with County 7/4 to collect three points.
However, four goals will be a positive to build on for the Dingwall outfit who also boast former Inverness players Ross Tokely, Grant Munro and Iain Vigurs who are no doubt looking to get one over their old club.
Historically, Inverness have the edge in games between the two clubs, but Ross County came out on top during the 2009/10 First Division campaign with two wins and a draw from the four games, including a 3-1 win at the Caledonian Stadium.
But Butcher’s side won 3-0 at home in the league that season and also defeated County 1-0 in a Scottish Challenge Cup encounter.
There is very little to pick between the two sides going into the match with Inverness’ positive recent run counting for little given the phrase that ‘the form book goes out of the window in derbies’.
A home win at 5/4 is worth serious consideration but with local pride at stake and a desire not to lose it will result in a tight game and the points shared.
Prediction: Draw – 90 Minutes @ 9/4
Value Bet: 1-1 Draw – Correct Score at 11/2
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