It was a bruising encounter between ICT and Celtic at Caledonian Stadium
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Inverness Caledonian Thistle battled bravely in their first game under Terry Butcher as leaders Celtic were forced to settle for a point.
Dougie Imrie was denied early on by Celtic goalkeeper Artur Boruc, while new signing Richie Foran had the ball in the net only to be ruled offside.
Georgios Samaras squandered a couple of chances for Celtic, while Pavels Mihadjuks was denied again by Boruc.
Both sides pressed for a late winner, but chances were missed at both ends.
It meant that bottom side Caley Thistle avoided their ninth straight defeat in the Scottish Premier League, while Celtic had to settle for stretching their lead over second-top Rangers to two points.
New Inverness manager Terry Butcher made his mark with five changes from the team chosen by caretaker John Docherty for the 3-2 defeat by Hearts.
New signing Richie Foran was handed a start with Lionel Djebi-Zadi, Andy Barrowman, David Proctor and Ian Black also returning to the Caley Thistle side.
Watford-bound Don Cowie was left out along with Garry Wood and Iain Vigurs, while Roy McBain was suspended and Thierry Gathuessi injured.
And it was the fired up Highlanders who posed the early threat, with Dougie Imrie forcing goalkeeper Artur Boruc to turn his low drive from distance wide for a corner.
Then former Motherwell and Southend forward Foran athletically turned the ball past Boruc from eight yards only to be ruled offside in what was a very close call by the referee's assistant.
Butcher was leading Caley Thistle into battle for the first time
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Celtic manager Gordon Strachan had freshened up his side after Wednesday's marathon Co-operative Insurance Cup semi-final win over Dundee United.
But, despite the return of fit-again captain Stephen McManus, Barry Robson and Georgios Samaras in place of Glenn Loovens, Marc Crosas and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, the league leaders lacked a bit of zip.
Samaras squandered an opportunity to shoot and then headed weakly wide from eight yards as Celtic started to create some chances of their own.
Pavels Mihadjuks did slightly better at the other end, finding the target from close range following a Black free-kick, but Boruc spread himself star-like to block the defender's header at the far post.
Play descended into a dour midfield battle, an Aiden McGeady cross headed over from under his own crossbar by Djebi-Zadi being a rare moment of real danger at either end.
That was a signal for Celtic to crank up the pressure on the Inverness defence, but the home side ought to have taken the lead on the break 15 minutes from the end.
Russell Duncan broke clear down the right and his low cross across the face of goal was missed by Imrie and Adam Rooney.
It was Vennegoor of Hesselink's turn to see the ball to evade his reach following a dangerous cross from Scott McDonald.
Boruc took care to turn a looping Rooney header over the crossbar, while Celtic's Lee Naylor had a close-range effort blocked as the play raged from end to end.
Inverness CT: Esson, Tokely, Munro, Mihadjuks, Djebi-Zadi, Proctor, Black, Duncan, Foran, Imrie, Barrowman.
Subs: Fraser, McGuire, Rooney, Wood, Duff, Odhiambo, Vigurs.
Celtic: Boruc, Hinkel, Caldwell, McManus, Naylor, Scott Brown, Robson, Nakamura, McGeady, Samaras, McDonald.
Subs: Mark Brown, Vennegoor of Hesselink, Loovens, Hartley, Crosas, O'Dea, Sheridan.
Referee: C Richmond
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Caley Thistle's Richie Foran 7.17 (on 90 minutes).
Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.
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