IF putting a team out on the football pitch is - as one prominent manager suggests - rather like baking a cake, sheer consistency of selection must be an ingredient more valuable than Grade One saffron.

It is why a certain James Vincent, he of Stockport and Kidderminster Harriers fame, is likely to find himself in the rare situation today of being close to the spotlight without even getting the chance to lace up his boots.

The midfielder's absence from the Inverness Caledonian Thistle XI thanks to a knee injury means Terry Butcher must change his starting selection for the first time in eight SPFL Premiership fixtures for the trip to McDiarmid Park to face St Johnstone. Such continuity has undoubtedly been a factor in the Highland club's unlikely rise to the top of the table at a time where smaller budgets and reducing squad sizes are a handicap to almost all.

An understanding is developing between players that only constant interaction within the confines of a match can bring and it remains to be seen whether Vincent's mishap creates some kind of imbalance in the forcefield that has surrounded the Highland side since the beginning of the campaign.

Maurice Malpas, Butcher's No.2, was at the heart of a side who entered Scottish footballing legend thanks to their tight-knit, durable and almost never-changing nature. Jim McLean has been known to state his Dundee United won the league in 1983 with a squad of 13 players. The reality is 20 were used overall, but it is certainly not incorrect to state that a hardcore of the same old faces got that club over the line.

Malpas, a left-back of growing repute, was one of the stalwarts. Paul Hegarty another. Both men formed a formidable backline beside Richard Gough and David Narey and, while there is no pretence that Inverness possess that kind of quality, Hegarty sees enough in the current Inverness side to suggest they can handle the occasional injury or suspension here and there.

Butcher's rearguard has shown a similarly ungenerous nature to the one Hegarty shored up as captain and he sees David Raven, Gary Warren, Josh Meekings and Graeme Shinnie as capable of creating something lasting and remarkable this term.

"At United, if we went 1-0 up, we felt we would go on to win," Hegarty said. "One thing that sticks out for me is Inverness have lost only four goals in their first eight league games and we'd lost only three at that stage, so there are some similarities. I am not suggesting Inverness are going to win the league, by any means, but they way they are playing at the moment is championship material. Certainly, getting into Europe is a realistic ambition for the club this term.

"Clean sheets breeds confidence and Inverness are doing that just now, giving the midfielders and strikers the platform they need. Terry may have to change things this weekend, but they haven't been troubled by suspensions and injuries and there's nothing like a settled side. Many things have changed since 1983, but continuity is still absolutely vital for clubs. There is nothing better for a manager than getting a win and having everyone come through with a clean bill of health."

Hegarty also points out, in any case, that the changing nature of the game means it will be impossible for Butcher to continue fielding the same individuals every single week. "The game is quicker, which leads to greater physical demands, and the way the laws are interpreted means that you're likely to pick up more bookings," he reasoned.

There is also more bureaucracy to deal with, as St Johnstone have found to their cost over the past couple of weeks. Manager Tommy Wright had agreed a short-term deal with George Bowerman after his departure from Walsall, with a view to offering the 21-year-old a longer contract, but the move has had to be scrapped after it emerged that the striker appeared in two games for Woking.

"On making enquiries with the FA in England it transpires that he was classed as being of amateur status during his few days with Woking and that prevents us doing anything until January," explained Wright. "I think it has come as a surprise to him and his representative that Woking had registered him as an amateur."