Meekings hoping to make amends
Inverness defender Josh Meekings is happy to have a game four days before the League Cup final - as he is desperate to make amends for their William Hill Scottish Cup exit.
Caley Thistle host Hibernian in a rearranged Scottish Premiership clash on Wednesday night while cup final opponents Aberdeen are preparing for Sunday's Celtic Park showpiece on a training camp in St Andrews.
But Meekings wants to get back out on the pitch after his side suffered a second consecutive 5-0 defeat on Sunday as they crashed out of the other cup at home to United.
Meekings could not prevent Nadir Ciftci running through for the opener and was involved in what manager John Hughes branded a "comical" second goal as Ciftci tucked the ball home after the defender was hit by Dean Brill's clearance following a less-than-emphatic passback to his goalkeeper.
And the centre-back would rather be playing again than dwelling on those moments.
"It has helped us to have a game on Wednesday because it gives us the opportunity to go out and express ourselves," the 21-year-old said.
"It's nice to have a game as quick as possible after the weekend. It gives us a great opportunity to put things right.
"There were defensive errors, I made one myself, so we look and learn from it and try to make sure that they don't happen again."
Three midfielders are suspended for the game. Ross Draper misses out again while Marley Watkins and Greg Tansey drop out after being sent off during the William Hill Scottish Cup defeat to Dundee United.
Hughes has hinted he will give some players a chance to earn a League Cup final place.
Meanwhile, Terry Butcher knows the character of his former Inverness players well enough to appreciate their determination to bounce back from consecutive 5-0 defeats.
"They will be hurting after the Celtic game as well but they will always say it's in the past and they have to get on with it," the former England captain said.
"They normally bounce back well from setbacks. I'm hoping they bounce back on Sunday rather than Wednesday.
"But they are good characters, great pros, they have good resilience in the team there. They have players that can win games on their own. We know what we are up against.
"Maurice and I signed the players so we know their characters very well, and they are fantastic guys. But we want to go up there and beat them. We are looking at top six."
Midfielder Tom Taiwo returns from suspension for the trip.
On-loan Sunderland winger Duncan Watmore has returned to training after a foot injury but is not certain to feature while Kevin Thomson continues his return to fitness by playing for the Under-20s on Tuesday night.
Midfielders Scott Robertson (knee) and Owain Tudur Jones (hamstring) remain on the sidelines.
Source: PA
