Caley Jags feel the weight of history in bid to prevail over Partick and reach the promised land

Third or fourth placed finishers have never made it to top flight

Caley Thistle have the advantage going into the second leg of tomorrow’s Premiership play-off against Partick Thistle.

The odds are stacked fully in ICT’s favour to advance to the semi-finals.

However, history shows if either of these Thistles are to advance to the topflight, they will be the first to do so from their seasonending position.

Inverness finished third in the Championship, largely thanks to strong starts and finishes to their campaign.

Partick Thistle won the race for fourth place, showing just enough consistency to get over the line ahead of Raith Rovers.

On Tuesday, goals from Shane Sutherland and Austin Samuels wiped out a Robbie Crawford opener at Firhill to hand Billy Dodds’ team a 2-1 lead going into the second leg at the Caledonian Stadium tomorrow.

League runners-up Arbroath will play the winners of the quarter-final next Tuesday and Friday, with the Angus club having home advantage in the second leg.

After that, it looks like St Johnstone, secondbottom of the Premiership, will be the opposing playoff finalists to decide who will be club 12 in the top flight next season.

Dundee, five points adrift at the bottom, cling on to the hope of catching Saints with just three games left.

Dodds and his players are keen to stress the job of getting through against Partick is only half complete and they expect the Glasgow Jags to come at them all guns blazing in a bid to turn the tie.

History, however, is with Caley Thistle. Since these promotion play-offs were introduced in 2013-14, the Championship’s fourthplaced team has never got through the quarter-finals.

Of course, we have yet to see a third or fourth-placed finisher from the second tier make it all the way to the Premiership, so whoever emerges victorious on Friday will still have to become trail-blazers.

The list of fourth-placed clubs to make it no further than where Partick Thistle are now are:

2014 – Queen of the South lost to Falkirk; 2015 – Queen of the South lost to Rangers; 2016 – Raith Rovers lost to Hibernian; 2017 – Morton lost to Dundee United; 2018 – Dunfermline Athletic lost to Dundee United; 2019 – Ayr United lost to Caley Thistle; 2020 – no play-offs due to Covid; 2021 – Dunfermline Athletic lost to Raith Rovers.

Only once have ICT been involved in the play-offs and that ended at the semifinal stage in 2019.

John Robertson’s shattered side were crushed 4-0 on aggregate by Robbie Neilson’s Dundee United, who lost the final to St Mirren on penalties to be denied promotion.

It looked positive for third-placed Caley Thistle as a 3-1 win at Ayr United was followed by a 1-1 home draw to see off the Honest Men for a semi-final shot at United.

Paul McMullan’s secondhalf goal at the Caledonian Stadium put league runners-up United in control with a 1-0 win in a game which also saw home midfielder Liam Polworth controversially shown a red card.

On to Tannadice just three nights later, and a hotly-disputed Nicky Clark penalty on the cusp of halftime doubled the Taysiders’ aggregate advantage. ICT defender Brad McKay was adjudged by referee Kevin Clancy to have handled the ball and the spot-kick was awarded.

That moment was a hammer-blow for Inverness and second-half goals from Osman Sow and Pavol Safranko sank the gutted Caley Jags, who were to face United again the following year after the Tangerines’ own penalty pain against the Paisley Saints in the final.

Only twice over seven Covid-free seasons have Championship clubs come through the play-offs to gain promotion to the Premiership.

That was Hamilton in the first year of 2014 and last season James McPake’s Dundee, who timed their run perfectly, beating Raith Rovers and Kilmarnock to make the step up.

Accies’ dramatic defeat of Hibs eight years ago is the double-header which remains the most discussed.

Hearts were relegated from the top flight in bottom place – after a 15point deduction due to having been in administration made it too tall an order for Gary Locke’s (mainly) young guns.

And it was a nightmare for both capital clubs as the Leith side tumbled down the table to second-bottom place.

A double from Jason Cummings in a 2-0 win at New Douglas Park looked to have former Caley Jags boss Terry Butcher’s Hibees on course for survival.

However, Accies turned it around at Easter Road as goals from Jason Scotland and Tony Andreu squared matters at 2-2, with their equaliser coming seconds from the final whistle.

First-leg Hibs star Cummings saw his decisive shoot-out spot-kick saved by keeper Kevin Cuthbert as Accies returned to the Premiership after three years outside it.

Hearts and Ross County have been promoted as champions during the past decade, as have Rangers and Hibs, although the latter two have experienced play-off pain too.

On the same weekend Caley Thistle won the 2015 Scottish Cup, Rangers were thumped 6-2 on aggregate against Motherwell in their play-off final.

Hibs lost to Rangers in that season’s semi-final then 12 months later were edged out 5-4 by Falkirk, who in turn were beaten in their final against Killie.

It is now five years since ICT tumbled out of the Premiership and they hope to face up to five massive matches in order to win their place back there.

Dodds and his opposite number, Partick Thistle manager Ian McCall, have this week underlined their widely-shared view that the play-offs are weighed heavily in favour of the Premiership’s 11th club retaining their place.

It almost certainly looks like St Johnstone will take that dreaded spot above allbut-doomed Dundee and they will face the final over two legs, with the benefit of home advantage in the second match.

Inverness – or Partick – will have to come through six games to reach the promised land.

However, it seems as if Caley Thistle have a spring in their step and are ready for the challenge which should still be a stern one when Partick hit the Highlands on Friday.

Play-off roll of honour: 2013-14 – Championship runners-up Hamilton Accies;2014-15 – Premiership Motherwell; 2015-16 - Premiership Kilmarnock; 2016-17 Premiership Hamilton Accies; 2017-18 Premiership Partick Thistle; 2019-20 - no playoff due to Covid; 2020-21 Championship runners-up Dundee

SLENDER LEAD: Shane Sutherland celebrates after drawing Caley Thistle level in the first leg at Firhill.