Caley Thistle’s 1-1 Scottish Premiership draw against Celtic on Saturday was overshadowed by a serious knee injury suffered by goalkeeper Dean Brill.
Brill was making his first appearance since the 2-0 win against Hamilton on January 24, having recovered from a knee injury.
But the 29-year-old dislocated the same knee following a challenge by Celtic midfielder Gary Mackay-Steven just 14 minutes into his comeback, forcing him to be stretchered off and replaced by Ryan Esson.
Midfielder Ross Draper was upset Brill will miss the rest of the season, including Sunday’s Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic.
Draper said: “It’s hard to take because he’s worked so hard, especially with the rehab he did with the physio. He got back to training then suffered another setback like that.
“It looks like a bad one. It’s a big loss and I felt sorry for Dean with a semi-final coming up as well.
“He’s a good mate on and off the pitch. We all wish him well and hopefully he can come back stronger. But he’s that kind of character – he will.
“Ryan Esson was brilliant for the 10 games Dean missed earlier in the season. He’s a good senior pro and will do a great job.
“It’s harsh on Dean because I know how much he loves his football and he’d love to be in the semi-final, but we go again.”
Draper was pleased with the character his side showed after falling behind to Leigh Griffiths’ early opener on Saturday, with Edward Ofere equalising a minute later.
The 26-year-old is now eagerly anticipating Sunday’s game but said the league encounter will have no bearing on the Hampden Park showpiece.
Draper added: “It could have been one of those days but we showed great spirit to come back and score straight away.
“At times we played some good stuff and caused them some real problems.
“Maybe a point was a fair result. We’ve not had a great run of games the last month, so to dig in and get a point against Celtic was a big boost.
“We need points in the league. We’ve slipped away in recent weeks and need to get back on track and finish the season strongly.
“There’s a game before next week, which will be completely different situation. It’s nice to get a result against them and use it as a boost going into next week.”