Scottish Premier League: Celtic, who face a crucial Champions League tie against AC Milan at Celtic Park tomorrow night, got the boost of keeping their top spot in the league table after Rangers' 1-1 draw against Inverness Caledonian Thistle at Pittodrie yesterday. The result leaves Rangers trailing their old firm rivals by a point.
Celtic recaptured top spot on Saturday thanks to a 2-1 home win over fourth-placed Hibernian with a John Hartson double.
Inverness went ahead against Rangers after just two minutes through Graham Payne and it took Alex McLeish's men until five minutes after the break to equalise through Dado Prso. Rangers had moved to the head of the table last week for the first time in 14 months but their lead only lasted seven days.
However, the weekend plaudits were reserved for Highland club Inverness who earned their first-ever point against Rangers and gave new manager Craig Brewster his first home point in his second game in charge before a crowd of just 6,543 fans.
"Everybody there could see it was totally deserved," said Brewster. "The way we started the game we tried to get in and about them. We knew Rangers had come off a difficult month with difficult games and midweek games and we knew if we started well we could put them under pressure."
Rangers manager McLeish blamed tiredness for a dismal performance, adding: "A lot of them (the players) looked tired because they have put so much energy and input (in) over the last couple of months.
"There are a few individuals I would like to have given a break but because of injuries they have had to keep going every single week. They had a bad day. We started alright but from our own corner we lost a goal and you have to put that down to slackness. Their goal gave them a big lift and the longer the game went on the more confidence you could see they were getting."
He added: "We salvaged a point but scorned a few chances and Inverness had a couple too. But we didn't capitalise on the great start to the second half and that's disappointing. But five, maybe six, players looked one-paced. They know it's a couple of points dropped."
