Match preview: Inverness Caledonian Thistle look to bounce back from opening day defeat to beat Cowdenbeath at home
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An early goal could be crucial for Inverness Caledonian Thistle if they are to break down a Cowdenbeath side that showed how stubborn they can be against Hearts last Saturday.
The Caley Jags will have home advantage, which the Jambos did not, and they will most likely need to claim all three points to keep their hopes of finishing top of the group alive.
Last time out Inverness put on an encouraging performance without getting their rewards, but this time there is an expectation that they will see off Cowdenbeath before rolling into their opening Championship match on Saturday.
Team News
Inverness Caledonian Thistle: John Robertson has a couple more options at his disposal than he did last week, with James Vincent and Danny Devine back in training and available.
Wallace Duffy is also in the mix after sitting out training, having come off in the second half of his ICT debut, but Shane Sutherland has been ruled out after straining his hamstring on the brink of half time at Tynecastle.
That leaves Lewis Toshney, Kevin McHattie, David Carson and Aaron Doran on the treatment table still to return, while Kai Kennedy still has to wait for his Caley Thistle bow after being forced into isolation when Scotland Under-19 manager Billy Stark returned a positive Covid-19 test on international duty.
Cowdenbeath: Experienced defender Craig Barr will miss out for the Blue Brazil after picking up bookings in each of the club's first two group games.
Manager Gary Bollan will have another decision to make in his defence that so nearly kept Hearts at bay, with Ross Pollock impressing at right back on his senior debut to stake his claim after replacing Fraser Mullen in the starting 11.
Recent form
Inverness Caledonian Thistle: lost 1–0 away at Hearts, drew 1–1 at home against Elgin City, won 2–0 away at Clachnacuddin, won 7–0 away at Nairn County, won 7–3 away at Elgin City.
Cowdenbeath: lost 1–0 at home to Hearts, lost 2–0 away at East Fife, won 1–0 at home against Civil Service Strollers, won 2–1 away at Broughty Athletic, lost 1–0 at home against Montrose.
Head-to-head (all competitions)
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 8
Draws 2
Cowdenbeath 4
Last five meetings
Cowdenbeath 2–5 Inverness Caledonian Thistle – League Cup, Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Cowdenbeath 1–2 Inverness Caledonian Thistle – League Cup, Saturday, July 16, 2016
Cowdenbeath 2–1 Inverness Caledonian Thistle – Division Three, Saturday, April 26, 1997
Inverness Caledonian Thistle 2–1 Cowdenbeath – Division Three, Saturday, December 21, 1996
Cowdenbeath 3–4 Inverness Caledonian Thistle – Division Three, Saturday, October 19, 1996
Ones to watch
Inverness Caledonian Thistle: Nikolay Todorov – the Bulgarian forward finds himself with the perfect chance to establish himself as ICT's main goalscoring threat ahead of the league season with striking rival Shane Sutherland out injured.
Todorov found the net in Caley Thistle's final friendly against Elgin at a corner, and with two of the three goals Cowdenbeath have conceded in the group so far coming from headers, he could be in a perfect place to capitalise.
He had to be patient for opportunities last season behind Jordan White, but tonight feels like a chance for the 24-year-old to seize the moment and nail down his spot in the starting 11.
Cowdenbeath: Ross Sinclair – in theory, the on-loan St Johnstone goalkeeper should be in for a busy evening at the Caledonian Stadium.
Already this season though he has shown that he is capable of pulling off important stops, albeit in losing efforts.
The 19-year-old denied East Fife's Ryan Wallace with a great save in his club debut, before then saving Jamie Walker's penalty against Hearts – if he can pull off similar stops tonight he will frustrate ICT and put his own side in line for a result.
ICT manager John Robertson's pre-match thoughts
Cowdenbeath showed on Saturday that they're a tough nut to crack, and they had a good season last year.
"They're well organised, Gary has some good players in there and they will be difficult to break down, but that's what we have to be ready to do.
"The important thing for us is to win the game and keep ourselves involved in the group.
"We have made it quite plain that the first two matches in particular in the cup were to be used as pre-season for building up minutes, and that will be the case against Cowdenbeath.
"We're not underestimating them in any shape or form, we will give them the same respect that we gave Hearts, but there will be two or three lads playing to get minutes under their belt because quite simply they need it for us to have as much of the squad ready for Saturday as possible."
