New players are available to both sides and it will be interesting to see what, if any, impact they have on the outcome in Inverness.

There could be an upset on the cards up in Inverness if the new manager syndrome gives the Caledonian Thistle players the lift they so badly need to stay in the SPL. Champions Celtic are the visitors so Terry Butcher has one of the toughest tests possible for his debut in the Inverness dug-out as manager. There could be other debuts made today as Butcher has not been sitting in his new chair waiting for the games to come around. He has new signings Richie Foran and Eric Odhiambo burning hole on his pocket and he may decide to give them a run-out today. Butcher will be gettying to know his players but today he will have to cope without left-back Richard Hastings (abductor muscle) and loanees Thierry Gatheussi (thigh) and Filipe Morais, while Roy McBain is out through suspension

Defender David Proctor has welcomed the new man in charge and impact he has already made. Former Motherwell manager Butcher and right-hand man Maurice Malpas have a challenge and a half to take the Highland club away from the bottom of the table and will need the commitment of the players to deliver on their remit. Proctor was delighted when he discovered Butcher was taking over - and despite only a few days under the new management team, it seems first impressions could hardly have been better. Proctor said: "You can't help but be impressed by him (Butcher). When he speaks, everyone hangs on his every word and is eager to learn from his experience. It's a natural reaction when you get a new manager in place; everyone's desperate to impress him training, and that's been no different here. Everyone's been biting into the tackles, and the tempo has been increased; we're all starting afresh with the gaffer and fighting for our places in the team. The manager is out to take as much pressure off the players as possible; he's been telling us to believe in ourselves and that we're good enough to stay in the SPL and more. He's trying to drum the confidence into us that we can survive in this division and can take as many points as possible, starting with Sunday's game."

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan also has a new player at his disposal in the diminutive shape of Willo Flood who signed from Cardiff just the other day. The midfielder, who had been on loan with Dundee United for the last 18 months, signed a two-and-a-half-year contract. A debut in the hoops could be in store for Flood. Strachan has his fingers crossed that captain Stephen McManus will be fit for action in the north after the defender missed Wednesday night's Co-operative Insurance Cup win over United with an inflamed knee. Glenn Loovens will continue to deputise if he is not fully fit. Meanwhile, Strachan has given Shunsuke Nakamura his blessing to quit Celtic at the end of the season. Midfielder Nakamura is keen to head home and help raise his young family there after four years at Parkhead. Strachan insists the Japan star - who struggles with the long journeys to and from international matches - has not approached him personally about a move. But he will not stand in Nakamura's way should the player ask to return to his first senior club, Yokohama Marinos, this summer. Strachan said: "Naka's never said he's going back. He hasn't mentioned his future plans. But if he said to me, `I want to go home to play in Japan and show everybody what I've learnt playing at Celtic and overseas', we would just have to say, `Thank you very much, it's been a great experience' - and hopefully get a holiday in Tokyo out of it." Strachan insists that, despite his talismanic qualities, Nakamura is not irreplaceable. He said: "How many can you not replace at a club like Celtic? Jock Stein, Jimmy Johnstone, and Henrik Larsson perhaps. There are not many you can't replace."

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