Caley Thistle earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory against St Mirren thanks to Billy Mckay’s sublime finish 13 minutes from time.
The game looked set to fizzle out into a goalless draw, with chances few and far between, however, Mckay’s goal was a rare moment of quality and proved decisive, settling the match.
Inverness attacker Marley Watkins was absent from the side after injuring a leg muscle in Thursday’s 3-1 Highland derby victory against Ross County, and was replaced by Nick Ross who made just his second start of the season. Ross Draper returned from a two-match suspension, but had to be content with a place on the bench.
Saints made two changes from the side beaten 2-1 by Kilmarnock earlier in the week, with Isaac Osbourne and Lewis Maclear dropping out in place of Adam Drury and skipper Steven Thompson.
The visitors looked more threatening in the early stages, with Kenny McLean particularly lively, firstly clipping the crossbar from 30 yards before forcing a fine save from Dean Brill with a strike from the edge of the box.
Inverness’ best first-half opportunity arrived just after the half-hour mark, when Billy Mckay pounced upon slackness by Saints defender Jeroen Tesselaar, but struck straight at keeper Mark Ridgers.
The early stages of the second-half brought precious few chances, with the game crying out for a breakthrough moment.
It arrived, long overdue, on 77 minutes, when Greg Tansey released David Raven with an beautifully floated pass, before the right back took one touch inside Tesselaar with a deft touch.
After driving inside the byline, Raven cut the ball across for Mckay, who guided the ball past Ridgers with a beautiful back heel.