Sod’s law has been practiced to the full this week as far as Richie Foran and Caley Thistle are concerned.
Inverness dug so deep to finally lift themselves off the foot of the Premiership in such dramatic fashion, but they have ultimately found themselves back at the bottom of the pile without kicking a ball.
Hamilton Accies defied expectations to defeat Aberdeen by the odd goal on Tuesday, much like Caley Jags did against Rangers the previous week, with the result lifting the Lanarkshire men up to ninth in the table.
Following Billy Mckay’s late overhead kick winner, Caley Jags supporters would have been looking forward to the visit of the Hoops – who they remain the only team to have taken points from this season – as something of a bonus match.
Inverness will now have to surpass what they did in last September’s 2-2 draw against Brendan Rodgers’ side in order to avoid propping up the table for at least another 10 days, given the Scottish Cup quarter-final action which takes centre stage without them this weekend.
For Inverness to take something from two separate encounters with the champions-elect would be a very impressive feat, given how many teams have tried and failed in their attempts to replicate the efforts of Richie Foran’s men by doing it just once.
All the more so, given that Caley Jags’ exploits, which make up the only blemish in an otherwise impeccable league record, simply appear to have aggravated the Parkhead side. Caley Jags have conceded nine goals in their two visits to Parkhead since, including a crushing 6-0 loss in the Scottish Cup last month. When Celtic have been riled, little in this league can stop them.
The Dons’ failure to get the better of Hamilton, despite a thoroughly dominant performance, will have been made all the harder for Caley Jags supporters to take given the involvement of several of their former players in the Reds’ team, with Graeme Shinnie, Adam Rooney, Ryan Christie and Miles Storey all unable to do their former club a timely favour.
What Hamilton’s result shows is that one result can go a long way, with Accies now one of a trio of teams on 24 points – only two above Caley Jags.
It will be a crucial run-in of fixtures for the Highlanders, and anything that they can take from the visit of Celtic to Caledonian Stadium would be a massive boost going into matches against Partick Thistle, Ross County and Kilmarnock in the weeks ahead.
