Top two meet in Inverness

Premiership leaders Inverness CT host Celtic in Saturday’s live BT Sport game at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, kick-off 12.30pm.

John Hughes’ side are looking for their first home win over the reigning champions since May 2011 although ICT won 1-0 at Parkhead in November 2012.

Barry Wilson, now manager of Elgin City, enjoyed more than one victory in this fixture during his playing days with Caley Thistle.

He said: “The famous Scottish Cup win at Parkhead in 2000 was, of course, a highlight in my career but it is not my favourite memory from playing Celtic.

“The best win came in Inverness in December 2007 in an SPL meeting when we were behind to two goals from Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and ended up winning 3-2.

“To come back from two goals and win any game is great and to do it against a team as strong is Celtic is something that does not happen too often. That is what makes it so special.

“John Rankin got us back into the game and David Proctor equalised before Don Cowie came up with the winner with half an hour to go. We also had David sent off but we held on.

“My only regret is that I started as a substitute. I was 35 by then and the manager Craig Brewster hardly started me and I still complain about it now! However, I recognise that Don was a real emerging talent at that time and probably deserved to play ahead of me.

“There was probably a bigger gap between the teams then than there is now and that will give Inverness hope that they can get a result. We played Inverness in pre-season and they beat us 2-1 but I actually missed the game as I was still on holiday.

“My assistant Graham Bayne took our team and one of the things he said to me was that Inverness were a very well-organised side, which probably comes from sticking to last season’s squad.”

Wilson continued: “John Hughes has now had his first pre-season in charge and that will have helped him get his ideas embedded further. They have made an excellent start with wins over Motherwell and Hamilton as well as their draw with Dundee.

“They are a very strong side in defence and I’m also pleased that one of the stars of this early part of the season is Ryan Christie. It is great for the Highlands to see local talent flourishing and I am pleased to see Ryan do as well. I played more than 200 games with his dad Charlie and he was a terrific player as well.

“Having Ryan playing so well means that not all the attention will be getting paid to Billy McKay and that increases their chances of getting a result.

“However, Inverness suffered a couple of heavy defeats to Celtic last season and they are going to have to play really well to take anything from the game.”

Craig Stewart