Draper pleased to see response to criticism

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Inverness midfielder Ross Draper insists manager Richie Foran was right to savage his players’ recent performances.

Foran went public with his criticism when Caley Thistle surrendered 3-0 to relegation rivals Hamilton last month.

The Irishman questioned his squad’s bottle and warned several members of his team they were in danger of being dropped as they slid further into trouble.

But he was full of praise as the Highlanders claimed a battling point against Hearts at Tynecastle on Saturday.

Midfielder Draper confessed the stinging words from his former team-mate was just what the basement boys needed to spark an upturn in performance.

He said: “I don’t mind it. It’s not personal. It wasn’t said through hatred – he’s one of us. He wants us to do well and vice versa, so we took it on the chin.

“We should have been doing what we did here from a couple of months ago. We had a decent spell earlier in the season, then it stopped.

“We haven’t won but we took a good point off a good team.”

Carl Tremarco headed Caley Thistle ahead after 24 minutes but Arnaud Djoum equalised after 64 minutes.

Jamie Walker’s penalty miss with 15 minutes left gave Inverness a deserved point.

Partick Thistle manager Alan Archibald refused to get carried away after his team briefly leapt into sixth place in the Premiership after a 2-0 home victory over Hamilton.

Substitute Kris Doolan was the Jags’ star man as he scored two headers after being brought on at the break.

The Thistle boss, whose team was leapfrogged again by Dundee yesterday, said: “I don’t think the sixth place thing matters. You’ll fall in and fall back out of it.

“I think everyone can claim sixth spot, anyone outside of sixth position.

“We all want to do it. You’ve got to put a run together and get a bit of consistency.”