Brewster believes seconds’ best may be good enough

Brewster's willingness to change a winning team, even with a semi-final place at stake, derives from the impressive form of his second string.

The 40-year-old was delighted with the manner of victory over Gretna at Fir Park, given the stylish nature of all four goals, but still feels his players performed within themselves.

With his reserves now riding high in their league, Brewster could recall the likes of John Rankin, Alan Morgan and Stuart McCaffrey to the first-team starting line-up.

McCaffrey's call will come if Phil McGuire fails a fitness test on a groin strain, but Rankin and Morgan would be unforced changes.

Looking back to the weekend, Brewster said: "To score four and concede none was extremely pleasing and I was particularly satisfied with the manner of the goals.

"The reserves also scored four in midweek, with four different scorers, so everyone is contributing. But although we played well, I've seen us play better than we did at Fir Park.

"The press were saying after the game it was a tremendous performance, but I thought it was a good performance.

I don't know whether we'll have to play better against Aberdeen, but we'll certainly have to score the goals. Sometimes you can play brilliantly and not score.

"There could certainly be changes. Phil McGuire is struggling and Stuart McCaffrey is ready to play.

"John Rankin and Alan Morgan have been out of the picture nearly all season, but are playing well and champing at the bit to come in, so we'll see.

"The reserves have been flying in their league and, if you have a strong reserve side, you've obviously got a strong first team.

"These guys are pushing, but they have just got to be patient, because the guys in possession are doing so well."

The victory over Gretna marked Caley Thistle's first clean sheet of this season's league campaign.

Much has been made of the loss of centre-half Darren Dods to Dundee United in the summer, while his former central defensive partner, Grant Munro, has also had to adapt to the captaincy role vacated by Dods.

However, the player-manager, who misses out with a shoulder injury, said: "I thought Grant was back to what he's capable of on Saturday. He was strong and aggressive and that's what we're looking for.

"I also made the decision to bring back Michael Fraser in goal and, though he didn't have too much to do, he dealt with a couple of long-range shots and stayed big to force Fabian Yantorno into a miss at one stage."

Brewster left Pittodrie early in the season to reignite his managerial career and is relishing crossing swords with his close friend, Jimmy Calderwood.

He said: "I'm looking forward to it. Both managers know there is a lot at stake and a semi-final place would certainly be a great boost to this club. But we're going to need a good performance to get through, with everyone playing to the best of their ability.

"In the meeting 10 days ago at Inverness, which ended in a 2-1 win for Calderwood's side, Aberdeen dictated early in the game and eventually won despite our second-half performance being strong. That underlines the importance of starting well at Pittodrie."

Brewster's men are out to end a run of 14 games without victory against Aberdeen, which stretches back to their only previous League Cup tie in 1998, when Billy Dodds scored a hat trick in Inverness to secure a 3-0 win for the visitors. The woeful record is a source of agitation in the Inverness camp, but Brewster said: "Records are there to be broken. I said to the players at last Monday's squad meeting that the failure to win might be linked to having so many connections with Aberdeen.

"There are a lot of individuals in the dressing room, at least five or six, who have played for Aberdeen or come from Aberdeen.

"Perhaps they are almost a wee bit too desperate to beat the Dons and it hasn't quite happened. Let's just wait and see if that changes."