Had to rub my eyes to see Draper on bench

With the stakes so high, I thought there were some really interesting selection choices by Ross County and Caley Thistle. County manager Jim McIntyre used the only three senior defenders available to him.

I wondered if Reghan Tumilty would start at right back again but McIntyre banked on experience instead.

It was probably the correct call because it meant that both Ryan Dow and Jim O’Brien could start when one might have otherwise had to fall out of the team.

In Richie Foran’s case, I had to rub my eyes to see Ross Draper on the bench.

Draper has been a rock in midfield for Inverness in Highland derbies over the years and, on paper, neither Iain Vigurs or Greg Tansey were going to be midfield enforcers.

The strategy was plainly to get players good on the ball to supply Jake Mulraney and Billy King in the channels with Alex Fisher up top there was potential for the Inverness forwards to get one-onone against County’s defenders. Again, it was arguably the right call because if the wide forwards could get crosses in then Fisher could dominate the area against a makeshift defence.

Caley Thistle knocked the ball about better than County did up until the opening goal but they were never allowed to settle into a rhythm thanks to a committed workrate in a high tempo match by the Staggies, led by the exceptional Craig Curran.

It was his strike partner Liam Boyce’s pressure on the back line that forced his first goal and he relished the amount of crosses that were delivered into the box by Michael Gardyne and Dow. It was difficult to see how Caley Thistle were going to get their way back into the match. County take a step closer to safety but Caley Thistle look done for.