Aberdeen 1 - 0 Inverness CT: Terry Butcher fears midweek drubbing after surrender in Aberdeen

Published on Sunday 1 May 2011 14:42

Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Terry Butcher admits he fears a thrashing from Celtic if his side replicate their dismal display against Aberdeen.

A Peter Pawlett strike 15 minutes from time gave the Dons all three points against the below-par Highlanders. And Butcher knows his players must improve when the title-chasing Hoops head to Inverness on Wednesday.

He said: "I have told the players that if they play like that they will get beaten 10-0 against Celtic. It will be embarrassing. I don't know who is going to play against Celtic as I'm seeing players this week to talk about contracts. My mind is certainly a lot clearer now as to what action I'm going to take - and I will be taking action, as I'm not having a performance like that. It was a disaster."

Butcher admitted one of the few positives he could take from the match was the performance of stand-in skipper Ryan Esson. The former Aberdeen goalkeeper made a number of key saves to keep the scoreline level before he was eventually beaten by Pawlett's strike.

Butcher added: "I made Ryan Esson captain and he will be captain on Wednesday as Richie Foran is out. I thought he was tremendous. He has been easily our best player so I thought I will give him the captaincy back at his former club. However, the team definitely missed Richie's presence and character and we were also without Chris Hogg, who is getting a scan on his knee this week. But the players that came in had an opportunity to impress and didn't take it." Pawlett was delighted to net his first senior goal following a season hampered by injuries. The 20-year-old has missed most of the season due to a toe injury and thanked the club's physios for getting him back to full fitness.

He said: "It is a great feeling to get my first senior goal. The physios have done a lot of work to help get me back fit and my mum and dad have also helped me through everything. I could do with the season being a bit longer.

The result ended a dire eight-game winless run for the Dons and Pawlett is hopeful they can end the season with a flourish. He added: "I don't see any reason why we can't win our last three matches. Hopefully we can push on and finish seventh or eighth in the league."