Caley Thistle boss Billy Dodds praised his players for handling the pressure to see off Arbroath for their first victory in 12 attempts.
They waited three months for a win, but goals from Shane Sutherland, Reece McAlear and Billy Mckay earned their a 3-0 home success against opponents who would have returned to top spot had they won.
Dodds was on cloud nine after seeing his team turn on the style and give their opponents no chance in this Championship clash.
It keeps ICT fourth in the table, one point ahead of next weekend’s hosts, Raith Rovers, who won 1-0 at Queen of the South.
Dodds said: “I’m really happy for the players.
“We all feel the pressure when you’re not winning games, but they do more than most, and I thought the way they handled against the top team in the league was great.
“We had to put in a special performance under that pressure, and I thought we handled every department of the game well.”
Dodds felt the performance was up with their best this term, but the outcome stands alone.
He added: “I thought it was our best result of the season.
“We’ve played better, but under the circumstances we handled the pressure.
“I said last week that at both ends we had to not switch off and make sure we scored goals, and I thought we answered that and did both.”
Arbroath aim to strike back at home
Arbroath first-team coach Rab Douglas insists the Angus club, who are two points behind leaders Kilmarnock, have already achieved – and more – what they set out to do this season.
He said: “It is only the fourth time we’ve lost this season. The last one was away to Ayr and we went on a great run after that. We will regroup and go again.
“Inverness deserved their win today. The main thing for Arbroath was maintaining our status in the Championship. We achieved that no problem.
“The pressure is not on our club, the pressure is teams like Kilmarnock to be up there. They are expected to be winning this title, to be running away with it.
“We have two home games now against (Ayr and Raith). We will have a good week of training and you will probably see a different Arbroath the next two Saturdays.
“I didn’t think the ref was very kind to us today. There was a straight red when Jack Hamilton got pulled down, but I didn’t think the ref helped either team.”
