Hughes bemoans non-penalty decision

With time almost up, Marley Watkins was taken down in the box by County goalkeeper Antonio Reguero, but referee John Beaton did not award the spot kick and the match finished as a 1-1 draw.

At full-time Hughes spoke to Watkins, whose goal had given his side the lead, and the Caley midfielder explained that he was caught by the Spaniard.

Hughes said: "Speaking to Marley, it was certainly a penalty and, certainly from where I was, the boy's clipped him.

"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.

"That's the way I saw it. The clip knocked him out of stride and he couldn't stay on his feet."

Despite the draw also denying third-placed Inverness their sixth win in succession, the home boss gave credit to his rivals, who prop up the Scottish Premiership table.

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

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

"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, meanwhile, was at pains to point out that poor displays at times this season can be misinterpreted.

He said: "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.

"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 at Inverness.

"Every point is a prisoner. We are desperate for points. We were pushing for the three. You could see that."

On the game, McIntyre felt his substitutions, especially Jake Jervis, tipped the contest their way, which led to Gary Warren's own goal equaliser 14 minutes from time.

He said: "I was really disappointed to go in 1-0 down at half-time, I don't think we deserved that. It was a sloppy goal to use.

"I felt comfortable within the game then we had it all to do. The team that scores the first goal usually wins according to the stats.

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

McIntyre added: "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."