Scottish Premiership: Inverness boss John Hughes felt his side should have had a spot-kick against Ross County

Inverness boss John Hughes was unhappy that his side were not awarded a late penalty during their 1-1 derby draw with bottom club Ross County.

Marley Watkins went down in the box when challenged by County goalkeeper Antonio Reguero in the closing stages but referee John Beaton did not point to the spot.

And Hughes said: “It was certainly a penalty and, from where I was, the boy's clipped him.

“I spoke to Marley and he said he tried to stay up but lost his balance and that's why he took an extra stride. I think it's a penalty, so I'm bitterly disappointed.

"The clip knocked him out of stride and he couldn't stay on his feet."

Third-placed Inverness were denied a sixth win in a row but Hughes added that their visitors deserved praise for a battling effort.

"All credit to the two sets of players,” he said. “With the pitch the way it was and the overhead conditions, it was never going to be a classic.

"I'm a little disappointed not to win the match and keep our winning run going.

"But all credit to Ross County. They showed real fighting spirit and I wish them all the best from now until the end of the season."

Staggies boss Jim McIntyre was pleased with the efforts of his side.

"We were questioned after losing to St Mirren and the Inverness defeat on New Year's Day because the levels of performances were not good enough,” he said.

"Sometimes people can get confused between the level of performance and whether players care. That is a load of rubbish. Every player cares and we showed that today.

"We are desperate for points and we were pushing for the three. You could see that."

McIntyre felt his substitutions, especially Jake Jervis, made a big difference, leading to Gary Warren's own goal equaliser 14 minutes from time.

"I was really disappointed to go in 1-0 down at half-time,” he said. “I don't think we deserved that, it was a sloppy goal to lose.

"We had to weather a storm but the subs made a real impact and we coped really well. We changed the system and it certainly worked.

"Jake did well when he came on. We are encouraging him to try and stretch teams and he certainly did that against Inverness.

"Jackson Irvine was immense for the goal. It was a great delivery into the box, into a really dangerous area. Jake put his body in there too and we managed to get it over the line."