Kilmarnock 1 Inverness CT 2: Life is ‘lovely’ for Butcher’s boys

Inverness boss Terry Butcher hailed his side’s new-found winning mentality after Saturday’s 2-1 victory at Kilmarnock consolidated their position at the top of the Premiership.

Caley Thistle started brightly at Rugby Park and took just six minutes to open the scoring when Aaron Doran pounced on Billy McKay’s knockdown to hook the ball across goal for Richie Foran to nod over the line.

And they took just five minutes to regain the lead after Graeme Shinnie’s attempted clearance ricocheted off Barry Nicholson during a 50th-minute Kilmarnock counter-attack as the home side improved following the restart.

McKay notched his sixth goal in as many games when he ran on to a Josh Meekings clearance and lobbed Craig Samson.

Butcher, whose side have taken 16 points from their six games to lead Celtic by three points, said: “Three years ago we would have lost that game.

“Ross Draper said ‘Last year we would have probably drawn that game’. So there is a slight difference. It’s lovely. Since June 27 when we came back, we haven’t lost a first-team game.”