DUNCAN FERGUSON can hand the Scottish Championship flag to his first club Dundee United effectively on Friday night if Caley Thistle can see off Raith Rovers.
With three games left in the league, Raith are six points behind United with a vastly inferior goal difference so a loss in the Highlands would condemn them to second place and even a win will hardly mean much with the Tannadice side surely set to wrap up the league soon anyway.
It's been a disappointing end to the season for the Kirkcaldy men who had the winds taken out of their sails at the end of last March with defeat at Tannadice when a win would have put them in the driving seat and they have only won one of their last five games.
But it's still been an excellent campaign overall for Rovers who have pushed their big-spending title rivals all the way and punched above their weight.
But Inverness have plenty to play for themselves too after last week's vital win at Hampden saw them leapfrog Queen's Park and come out of the relegation play-off spot.
Two wins in a row are just what Ferguson needed and another three points would give them a giant leap of safety.
How the bookies view it
Raith Rovers are 11/8 favourites here with UniBet.
Caley Thistle can be backed at 2/1 with McBookie.com. The draw is 11/5 with William Hill.
Recent head to heads
Raith won the first two games of the season, but Inverness put a dent in their title hopes by winning 3-2 in Fife in January.
Players to watch
Ross County striker Alex Samuel has helped Highland rivals Caley Thistle by scoring five goals since joining on loan in January. He is 9/2 to score anytime with bet365.
Zak Rudden is also on loan at Raith from Dundee and he has scored three times for Rovers. He is 10/3 to score anytime with bet365.
Anything else catch the eye?
Raith Rovers have surely resigned themselves to a play-off spot now and with second place in the bag, have three games now where the pressure is off.
That's not the case for the hosts who need the points and they are worth backing here at a big price.
Not only have Raith only won once in five games, they have only scored three goals in that time and two of them were in the one game.
ICT are not prolific in the scoring department either and in their last nine games, only two have gone over 2.5 goals. It points to a low scoring encounter and it's worth backing under 1.5 goals at 2/1 with William Hill. It could be that just a goal decides this.
This Scottish Championship match between Caley Thistle and Raith Rovers will be played on Apr 19, 2024 and kick off at 19:45. Check below for our tipsters best Caley Thistle vs Raith Rovers prediction. You may also visit our dedicated betting previews section for the most up to date previews.
