Caley Thistle are poised to return from their Covid troubles by facing Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park on Wednesday.
The Inverness side had their Boxing Day Championship fixture at home to Partick Thistle postponed by the SPFL after a number of Covid cases and injuries left their squad decimated.
Such was the impact of the combined troubles, head coach Billy Dodds had only eight available players, including two goalkeepers.
It wasn’t the only second-tier game to be cancelled due to Covid, with Morton’s match against Queen of the South off due to the virus hitting the Dumfries club’s camp.
In the Premiership yesterday, Dundee were furious they were asked to play at Aberdeen, despite Covid affecting five first-team players.
It meant Dark Blues 40-year-old assistant boss Dave Mackay had to be named as a sub on a bench with a 17-year-old and two keepers in a game Aberdeen won 2-1.
Clubs preparing for midweek action
However, it’s looking like game on at Dunfermline this Wednesday in the Championship as ICT have called a pre-match press conference for this afternoon.
With an limit of only 500 fans on Scottish sports stadia over the next few weeks due to the rising Omicron cases, some clubs are deciding to have no supporters inside as it would actually cost them money.
Dunfermline have opted to have no fans inside and that began with their 3-0 Boxing Day defeat against league leaders Arbroath.
Inverness still second in division
Caley Thistle remain in second spot, three points behind Dick Campbell’s pace-setters, with Raith Rovers one point behind them despite their 2-0 surprise loss at Ayr United.
Managerless Kilmarnock moved to within two points of ICT thanks to a 3-2 victory at Hamilton, having played the same number of games as the Highlanders.
🎁🎄 Our Updated Festive Hours following our game on Boxing Day against Partick Thistle being postponed
The Club Shop is open until 12pm today and we're then back open on Thursday 30th December, 10am – 2pm
💻Online Orders also available from https://t.co/wUa0foGGKc pic.twitter.com/nQrPQyQ1GX
— Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC (@ICTFC) December 24, 2021
Dunfermline, now managed by former Inverness and Ross County boss John Hughes, slipped to second bottom spot, having lost three of their last four matches in all competitions.
ICT, however, have yet to get the better of the Fifers this term, having been held to a 0-0 draw at East End Park in September then losing 2-1 at home last month.
The other Championship games on Wednesday are – Arbroath v Hamilton, Kilmarnock v Morton, Partick Thistle v Ayr United and Raith Rovers v Queen of the South.