Inverness manager Terry Butcher hails ‘delightful’ win

By ALAN ROBSON
Published on 20/10/2012 00:54

DESPITE the emphatic final scoreline, Inverness manager Terry Butcher said he only felt confident his side would take all three points against Dundee last night when they scored their third goal.

Paying tribute to goalscorers Billy McKay, Gary Warren and Andrew Shinnie, he said: “Delightful – 4-1 looks a bit of a hammering, it certainly wasn’t.

“It wasn’t until we got the third goal that we could breathe a little bit easier. The fourth was the icing on the cake.

“It was a hell of a game – three goals in the first ten minutes. We love Friday night football.”

Despite a whirlwind start for Inverness, Colin Nish scored after 13 minutes to pull a goal back for Dundee and the home side had chances to level before Shinnie’s 81st-minute spot-kick and McKay’s late fourth.

Butcher praised the response of his players as they secured a third straight win in a six-match unbeaten run.

“I’ve got a fantastic group of players that work their socks off,” he said. “Confidence is sky high and they’re a credit to themselves because they work really hard.

“They’ve got resilience, they’ve got toughness and they can play. I thought they played some lovely stuff tonight.”

McKay replaced injured captain Richie Foran and was praised by his manager, as was Shinnie. “He (McKay) was busy tonight, he was brave, he was strong,” Butcher added. “Andy Shinnie was irresistible.”

The hosts have now lost five successive games to sit four points adrift in an otherwise tight SPL table and Dundee manager Barry Smith said: “I’m angry because I don’t like getting beaten, but it’s the manner of the defeat that’s the problem. We can’t afford to be giving teams two goals head start.

“Our defending wasn’t good enough. We don’t seem to give ourselves a chance. But the massive positive was Nicky Riley coming back in for his first start of the season. I thought he did extremely well and gave us something different.”