Caley Thistle last night failed in their deadline day attempt to sign Southend United forward Lee Barnard.
Barnard had been identified as a replacement for leading scorer Billy Mckay, who last week left to join Championship strugglers Wigan Athletic for £150,000.
The 30-year-old, who began his career at Tottenham and has played for 10 English clubs, is out of contract in the summer, and has been forced down the pecking order at Roots Hall following the loan arrivals of forwards Joe Pigott and Jake Cassidy from Charlton Athletic and Wolves.
Shrimpers manager Phil Brown revealed his player was not keen to make the move to Inverness.
The former Hull City manager said: “I spoke to Lee and he told me he wants to stay and compete for his place which I admire.
“He’s seen me bring in two new forwards but is keen to try to get back in to the team.
“Of course that could change and someone else could come in and whet his whistle, which I don’t think Inverness did, so we decided to turn down their bid.”
Despite the transfer window closing Caley Thistle manager John Hughes remains confident of adding to his squad, citing the example of former Manchester United and Celtic midfielder Liam Miller who he signed as a free agent for Hibernian in 2009.
Hughes will wait rather than rush into making any signings, and said: “I signed my best player outwith the window in Liam Miller, who was still a free agent.
“He was an absolutely outstanding professional and trained at a different gear to everybody else.
“He was the fittest player I’ve worked with and brought that sheer professionalism.
“I could see he was a Manchester United player.
“Just because the window closes doesn’t mean to say business stops.
“We’ll be very careful in making sure we get the right one in.”