Billy Dodds praised his Caley Thistle players for not settling for anything less than three points as they dug deep to earn a crucial 2-1 Championship win at Morton.
David Carson sealed the victory late on with an ice-cool finish after Grant Gillespie’s penalty had cancelled out Scott Allardice’s second half opener.
The result keeps the sixth-placed Highlanders six points behind fourth-placed Partick Thistle with a game in hand and pulls them to within one point of Morton.
The Inverness head coach, who was booked for questioning a penalty decision which went against them, was thrilled to be leaving Inverclyde with full points.
After losing just once in their last six games in all competitions, Dodds said: “It’s only a win and it’s three points. I’m certainly not trying to play it down.
“It was a really tough, physical game. Morton, as expected, threw everything at us. You can see (former Inverness striker) big George Oakley had an extra edge to try and get on the scoresheet. We handled it.
“We were better in the second half and we probably deserved to win the game.
“Other teams have won (Partick Thistle and Raith Rovers), which is good on their part, but we are still on the coat-tails of the top four, which is nice. I’ve said all along I just want to add a wee bit of pressure.
“We have got to keep winning. Results can change every week in this division. We had to work really hard at Morton and show every side of the game. The physical side, the technical side and we kept going, especially in the face of adversity.
“I thought we should have had a penalty to make it 2-0. You have to take it on the chin, but if (referee David Dickinson) gives Morton’s penalty, then he’s got to give that one too.”
Morton manager, and former Inverness midfielder, Dougie Imrie expressed his frustration at letting the game go after drawing level.
He said: “It was disappointing overall in terms of us losing the game.
“In the first half, we were the better team by far. we had the better opportunities and limited Inverness to very little.
“In the second half, we were flat, which has been a wee bit of a problem for us at times this season.
“I spoke to the players on Friday about not allowing any free shots. (Scott Allardice) gets a free hit and puts it away in the bottom corner. It is disappointing when you show them time and again the same traits that are happening.
“We scored from a penalty and got a lift from that, but if we want to be successful, we can’t allow teams to get a goal ahead then it needs is to score to get a spark. We need to take the game to teams.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t do enough to win it.
“Fair play to Inverness, David Carson takes a gamble in the last five minutes to win it. Jai Quitongo didn’t match the run and the boys went in and finished it well.
“There were a few told afterwards what they offered was not good enough.”
Imrie also played down the verbal flashpoint between him, sitting in the stand due to suspension, and Ross Hughes, which saw the ICT head of performance sent off by referee David Dickinson.
He added: “That’s football. I’m sure I’ve been guilty of shouting at other members of other club’s staff.
“It’s a passionate game. I have no problems with that and unfortunately for him, he got a red card.”
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