Inverness defender Danny Devine believes he can still convince manager John Hughes he is the man to be trusted at Hampden. The Northern Irishman has been forced to play understudy to the centre-back pairing of Josh Meekings and Gary Warren for the majority of the season. But he has made the most of full-back David Raven's recent sending-off against St Johnstone to claim a place on the right side of Hughes' back four and has started Caley Thistle's last two games against Dundee United and city rivals Dundee. Raven completes his two-game ban when Inverness take on United again at the Tulloch Caledonian Stadium today but will hope to back in the team when they round off their Scottish Premiership campaign against Celtic next week, just six days before the William Hill Scottish Cup final showdown with Falkirk on 30 May. But, with Warren suspended for the final, Devine is determined to impress Hughes and make sure he is given the nod for the national stadium showpiece.
The former Preston youth said: "Josh and Gaz have been unbelievable at times over the last two years. They have formed a solid partnership at the back and it's been tough for me to break into the team. But I have to stay ready and wait for my chance to get in and do well. Those two along with the rest of the team who have started the majority of the season have really put down a marker and that will definitely be on the rest of the lads' minds. They know they will have to put the work in if they are to stake a claim for the cup final. We can't just let these last two league games pass us by. Everybody will be raising their game over these last two weeks and hope they can nick a spot for the final. Even though we have already got the third spot wrapped up, everybody will be putting in 110 per cent."
Dundee United manager Jackie McNamara has called for his side to improve in defence as they bid to close in on a potential European spot. United are battling with St Johnstone for fourth spot in the Scottish Premiership, which will supply a Europa League place if Inverness win the Scottish Cup, but have struggled to keep goals out this season. United have only won twice in 16 games and both wins saw them keep rare clean sheets. McNamara has suffered a fresh blow ahead of the trip to the Highlands with centre-back Callum Morris suffering a recurrence of a thigh injury. He said: "Our downfall this season has been conceding too many goals. That is never easy to take. We've scored 22 goals more than St Johnstone in the league but we're only three better off than them. Our goal difference has been a real problem. We've had to chop and change the defence a lot this season because of injuries and suspensions. But we've got to get on with it and try to get better at that side of things. It's in our hands at the moment. We were disappointed not to win away to St Johnstone last week but we didn't lose anything in terms of points."