Managers Post Caley Thistle

I don't think they had a chance of any note in the game. We defended brilliantly, competed well but just lacked a little bit of a cutting edge to our play.

Stephen Kenny did not say that his team should have won the match:-

"It is certainly one we could have won. We started brightly and had a couple of opportunities - Stephen Crawford and Gary Mason got in. Gary looked as though he was going to score. After that in the first half there weren't too many chances. Both teams defended well enough.

"The second half was frenetic; there weren't a lot of passing movement on both sides. Jim Hamilton led the line very well for us today. I felt he was influential in the game.

"We were in the ascendancy and looked more likely in the game up to Stephen's sending off. In the last five, seven or eight minutes Caley had a bit of pressure there. A few set plays and we looked under pressure. I don't think they had a chance of any note in the game. We defended brilliantly, competed well but just lacked a little bit of a cutting edge to our play. That is something we have to improve on."

Steve Kenny's view of Stevie Crawford's sending off:-

"The first booking was a bit of a mystery to me, I am surprised by it in the context of some of the other fouls.  The second one - it can be argued from a technical point of view that it is a yellow card as he slid in on the wet surface. He had fouled the Inverness defender, I am not disputing that but it the context of the fouls that went on I see it as a harsh sending off.

"There was a lack of understanding sometimes.  The game was disjointed in that regard, there was a lack of flow to it."

Asked if he felt the referee, William Collum had spoiled the game, he replied:-

"Some of his decision making processes were inconsistent and some of them were erratic. I am putting this into context, this is not Kenny lashes referee I am just saying that in the context of the game itself.  Crawford's ordering off, from a techniical point of view you can argue it and it was a second yellow but some of the stuff going on was a culmination of decisions.

"I am pleased with the commitment and effort of the players. After being well beaten at Kilmarnock we had to redress the situation and say 'where are we going with this?' We had to look at playing a good attacking side in that game.  Maybe we are not ready to play that way. We changed the philosophy for the Celtic game to make sure we were much more competitive around the park.

"Last week against St Mirren game we were very very good defensively and today we were very good defensively but there is still room for improvement in the way we play going forward. Our retention and possession, the quality of our crossing and the quality of our final pass need to improve. These are things that we can work on now and areas where we can improve."

The Pars gaffer would not promise Mark Burchill's return for the Motherwell game.

"We shall have to see. It was a thigh strain he picked up in the game last week but when you are coming back from a double hernia operation you are susceptible to strains by all accounts.  We will see how he is, I'm not sure."

Asked whether he was happy to pick up two points in the last two games Stephen Kenny replied:-

"I am not going to unrealistically accentuate the positives.  I give it to you as I see it. There is a tremendous commitment and consistency of effort from the players.  They are playing for each other. We are defending well, Phil McGuire has come in and made a big difference.  Darren Young, playing out of position having never played there before in his life, has done well.

"We need more quality in the final third. Our crossing and cutting edge to our play; a creative spark in the final third -that we need to add in the next few weeks."

Inverness Caley Thistle Manager Charlie Christie said:-

"It was not the best of football matches. A team fighting for points at home today looked at this as an opportunity against ourselves on not the best of runs. They looked a wee bit nervous, especially second half when we got a bit of a grip on the game.

"We looked the more likely to score but I thought we could have taken a bit more responsibility on the ball and made things happen but when you are going through a poor run players tend to be ultra safe.

"Dunfermline played very direct today, back to front throwing up lots of long balls to Jim Hamilton. They played off him and we coped with that reasonably well. Stevie Crawford got two chances in the first ten minutes but apart from that I don't think Mark (Brown) has been tested. If anything was going to happen in the second half goal wise it certainly was going to be in our favour."

Inverness were advantaged when Stevie Crawford collected his first red card since February 2002 (v Dundee - Speroni incident). Asked to comment on whether or not Stevie deserved a red card, the Inverness Caley Thistle Manager replied:-

"I don't think so. I am disappointed when there are any red cards to be honest. Stevie is not a dirty player by any means and it is not like him to be sent off. The first one was a silly booking for dissent - I don't think there could have been more red cards. There were a couple of stupid melees with people getting involved but the original challenges were anything but too severe.

"It was the kind of game, we have all witnessed them before when points at stake are so important. Good football can sometimes go out the window. Play is a bit longer with play being knocked back to front more often than it should. Boys will not take an extra touch on the ball and then you don't see the quality game that you hope to see."

Did you think the referee William Collum handled the game well?

"I thought he handled it OK. There were a lot of stoppages in the game, if he had let play flow a little more because there were a lot of stoppages on both sides. There were no real major decisions to get right or wrong to be honest. Dunfermline had a couple of half hearted claims for free kicks about the box but not real top decisions to be made."

Asked about Ian Black's shirt ripping off as he was substituted Charlie Christie said:-

"I was less than impressed and I have already told Ian and we will speak again about it. He didn't do himself or the club any favours whatsoever. I thought the game was getting quite towsie. The way the game had gone it was liable that the referee might have levelled things up with a second red card and knowing how competitive Ian is he was as likely as anyone since he had already been booked. It was a wee bit of protection.

"I was a bit worried when he removed his jersey that the referee could have given him a second yellow card which would have been a very severe lesson for the boy."