GUS MACPHERSON last night insisted he and his St Mirren team are unfazed by tomorrow night's Premier League encounter with Rangers at Love Street as the Ibrox side seek to retain an interest in winning the championship.

As the Paisley club's manager pronounced his satisfaction at taking a point against Inverness and keeping a clean sheet in the process, he adopted a pragmatic outlook on the visit of the Ibrox outfit.

"It's not affecting us," he said. "We just have to be as professional as we have been.

"We're at home and we have to defend properly. That's what happens when you're up against the best teams in this league. You're going to be asked questions defensively but we have done well from a defensive point of view.

"What we have to address for next season is the other end, goals for. We have to get the balance right but we have the respect in this division because everybody knows we'll give them a tough game."

MacPherson will supervise a light squad training session today and has urged his players to rest up as he looks ahead to facing Walter Smith's men with a side ravaged by injury.

"The squad we had at Inverness is what we've got," he said. "We picked up three injuries during the week with Franco Miranda being injured in training. He has ripped his back, which went into a spasm.

So what we've got is the bare bones."

Yesterday's game may have been attractive enough but the lack of bite underlined the end of season feel to an afternoon in which the major talking point was the red card for David Proctor, the Inverness centre-back, early in the second half.St Mirren, though, failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and only looked to be aware of it in the dying minutes.

Proctor's indiscretion came when he was the last man in the Inverness defence brought Craog Dargo to the ground.

He was rewarded for his efforts with an early departure, making it an unfortunate finish to his season.

Predictably, both managers were keen to evaluate how their sides are shaping up for next season and it made for adventurous play.

After just five minutes, Doug Imrie filleted the St Mirren defence to lay on an opportunity for Don Cowie who will wonder how he could have managed to shoot so high over the bar from 12 yards.

The link play in the Inverness side was good to watch but it was a kick-out from goalkeeper Michael Fraser that almost brought the opening goal in the 38th minute as the ball went straight through to Dennis Wyness.

The front man, playing his last game for Caley Thistle before joining yesterday's opponents, cheekily chipped the advancing Mark Howard, St Mirren's goalkeeper, only to miss the target.

A minute later, a cross from Imrie found Marius Niculae in the penalty area but his effort cracked off the post and when the ball fell for Wyness, the striker simply couldn't produce a clean shot.

The attacks were, however, a clear indication of Caley Thistle's dominance at this stage and, when the interval arrived, there would have been concern expressed in the away dressing room over how easily and often the home side penetrated their defence.

Stephen O'Donnell's ferocious angular shot four minutes after the re-start, which battered off the body of Fraser, would have lifted St Mirren spirits but there was little sign that this was to be anything other than temporary and Inverness were soon back up to speed, with Cowie making his passing ability count in bringing others into play.

The complexion of the game changed with the ordering off of Proctor nine minutes after the break, the defender's clumsy challenge on his former team-mate, Dargo, coming 25 yards from the Caley Thistle goal with the St Mirren striker showing the defender a clean pair of heels.

As the last man, Proctor had to go and within a couple of minutes, Brewster re-shaped his side with Ian Black replacing Wyness, Russell Duncan moving to right back and Ross Tokely occupying the centre-back role.

They may have been a man down but there was a determination from the home side that did not allow them to adopt a negative approach and while Dargo looked dangerous from time to time, the new-look Caley Thistle defence never flinched, although there was a nervous moment five minutes from the end when Ryan McCay's searching ball into the area found David Barron at the far post and it took a sharp reflex stop by Fraser to prevent his effort hitting the back of the net. By then, the cavalry charge had been sounded and Dargo and Mehmet both came close but in the end they had to settle for a point.

The Paisley side now must beat Rangers in order to leapfrog yesterday's hosts into ninth place in the Premier League.