Billy Dodds had no complaints after seeing his Caley Thistle side share the spoils in a goalless Championship clash against leaders Queen’s Park.
The result at the Caledonian Stadium means sixth-placed ICT remain 10 points behind Owen Coyle’s impressive Spiders, who are still four points clear of nearest hunters Ayr United.
Aside from a much-changed Queen’s losing 1-0 against Raith Rovers in the SPFL Trust Trophy on Wednesday, they had won their previous eight fixtures, including a sweeping 6-0 rout of Cove Rangers a week ago.
ICT had thumped Cove 6-1 then Arbroath 4-1, so this makes it three without a loss.
The sides will meet at the same venue next weekend in the fourth round of the Scottish Cup.
Inverness stars gave boss everything
Dodds praised his players, with a goal all they lacked for their efforts throughout an entertaining 90 minutes.
He said: “With the amount of chances, you would never have thought it would have ended 0-0. It was a really good draw and I really enjoyed the game.
“I was biting my nails at times, but I’m sure Owen Coyle was as well. I would have loved to have won it – we created some great chances but so did they.
“A draw was a fair result, although three points would have been great. On to next week. We will see where it takes is.
“The boys gave me everything, which is all I can ask for.”
Chances for either side to earn win
Dodds knows Queen’s Park could have grabbed all three points, which would have all but put ICT out of the title race.
He said: “It could have gone in our favour, but it could have gone for Queen’s Park too.
“I thought we had the better chances. Don’t get me wrong, they had a great chance blocked (by Danny Devine) then a chance that fell and (Lee Kilday) put it over the bar, but we had some unbelievable chances.
“If we had picked the right moment or picked the right pass or the right person, or a cross instead of a shot, we could have won it.”
Coyle proud of his attacking players
Queen’s Park manager Owen Coyle, meanwhile, felt his side carved open the best opportunities of the afternoon.
And he took a swipe at those who think his club are buying their way to success after two successive promotions.
He said: “The myth about Queen’s Park splashing this and splashing that, nothing can be further from the truth.
“We’re a mile off in terms of the top budgets in this league, but what we are is a very young, progressive attack-minded football team.
“Is our club spending money? Absolutely – it is all going on the infrastructure, the training ground, Lesser Hampden.
“It’s spent on the academy to rear young players to come through.
“The job I’ve got is to keep the club on an upward trajectory so that when these young players do come through, they’re playing at a high level.
“If they go on to have great careers at a higher level, all good and well.
“Some of the stuff that gets written, I wish people would do their research, find out what’s actually true in football and take it from there.”