Only in the Inverness Courier
The Inverness Courier
10 March, 2010
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Published:  20 November, 2009

Brian Kerr

JOCKY Scott will not have had to look beyond his own dressing room to get the lowdown on Caley Thistle's players ahead of Sunday's Alba Challenge Cup final.

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Dundee have already played Inverness at Dens Park this season, but that fixture was three months ago and the Highland Capital club have changed their line-up since then.

As an experienced manager, Scott is certain to have had Caley Thistle watched recently, yet should he require the inside track on their players then he may well be calling Brian Kerr into his office for a chat.

The Dark Blues already have former Inverness midfielder Richie Hart in the their ranks, while ex-Ross County player Sean Higgins is another who should also know a bit about the Caley Jags, even though he plied his trade across Kessock Bridge.

It is Kerr, however, who possesses the most up to date knowledge on Caley Thistle. Having joined the Highland Capital club in February this year, Kerr opted to reject a new deal following their demotion to Division One, deciding instead to sign a three-year contract with Dundee in the summer.

Although Caley Thistle manager Terry Butcher made a number of additions during pre-season, Kerr (28) will know all about the strengths and weaknesses of players such as Eric Odhiambo and Dougie Imrie - just two of the individuals who did not feature during the 2-2 draw between the sides in August.

"If I can help out the manager in any way, then so be it," he said. "From what I've heard and read in the newspapers, their style and formation is a bit different to when I played for Inverness, while they've also brought in a few new players.

"I still keep in touch with Andrew Barrowman and David Proctor though, so they keep me informed too. As you would expect, we've had a bit of banter about the game over the last week or so and I would expect that to continue up until Sunday."

To be on the verge of playing in a cup final is something that would have seemed a million miles away to Kerr toward the end of last year as the three-times capped Scotland midfielder could not even find a club following his release from Hibs.

He even feared he may have to quit the game and find alternative employment, but that all changed when his former boss at Motherwell Butcher decided to utse his experience in the bid to help Caley Thistle fight relegation.

Despite Kerr's best efforts, he could not help Inverness stay up, yet the move allowed him a platform on which to show his talents and Dundee were clearly impressed by what they saw.

It has been a complete turnaround in fortunes for the one-time Newcastle United player, who is now hoping that an ankle injury, which has left him sidelined recently, does not cost the him his place in Sunday's encounter, having already twice experienced cup final heartbreak.

"When I was on loan at Livingston in 2004 the club reached the League Cup final against Hibs, but I had injured myself in the semi-final and had to go back to Newcastle, which was really disappointing, especially as Livi won the game" he added.

"A year later, I was at Motherwell when they got to the League Cup final as well. However, I had done my cruciate ligament at the start of the season and missed the game against Rangers, so I'm hoping this will be third time lucky for me."



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