Caley Thistle defender David Raven believes Saturday’s 1-0 win against St Mirren was a reminder of his side’s ability to win ugly.
Greg Tansey’s first-half penalty was the difference in a match where nine players were booked and Caley Jags midfielder Ryan Christie was dismissed for a second caution.
Raven was impressed with the way Inverness stood up to the challenge of holding their lead, a victory which keeps them in third place in the Premiership.
The 29 year-old defender said: “It wasn’t a dirty game but it was scrappy.
“That’s probably why tackles were flying in, it was windy and the ball was bouncy.
“It wasn’t easy to play in the conditions so that probably made it look bad.
“That said, I enjoyed playing in the game and a lot of the players will say the same thing. Defenders like defending.
“We didn’t play excellent football, but to come away with three points after going down to 10 men, I was really proud of the team. We’ve got to be proud of the way we defended and grafted for the result.”
Saturday’s trip to Paisley marked a winning return from the second international break of the campaign for the Caley Jags, with another to follow next month.
It’s a stop-start schedule but the former Liverpool and Tranmere full back is aiming to keep his side’s momentum going when Dundee United visit the Caledonian Stadium on Saturday.
Raven added: “There are quite a lot of breaks this year. It seems to be we’re having a break every few games. We’ve got three games now until the next one, so we need to set points targets for those matches.
“When teams have been on a roll it can be quite difficult to get going again after. But the fact we didn’t pick up too many points before the last round of international matches meant it was probably quite good for us. It’s started this little section off afresh.
“It is a good challenge for us to test ourselves against a Dundee United team which is going to be up there at the top end of the table. We went to Aberdeen and played quite well without getting anything, and Dundee United will be a similar sort of game this weekend.
“If we can beat Dundee United and keep them below us we’re going to be at the right end of the table.”