Craig Brewster was delighted as Inverness overcame a "sloppy" start against Gretna to score three first-half goals to win 3-0 in the SPL.Marius Niculae broke the deadlock when he converted following a driving run by Russell Duncan and, when the Romanian was subsequently fouled by Chris Innes, that allowed John Rankin to confidently score from the penalty spot.

Niculae was able to add a third goal for Inverness before the interval through a downward volley, but Brewster believes the striker's first effort was the key to his team's ultimately resounding success.

He said: "From our point of view we just had to try to dictate the tempo and we were a little bit sloppy, maybe trying too many fancy things that didn't come off.

"But then we had a great 40-yard run from Russell Duncan and he played in Marius, who took a touch and rifled the ball into the net.

"After that we were on our way and everyone got a lift from the goal."

Brewster went on to hail the valuable contribution Niculae continues to make at the club since moving to the Highland capital in the summer, paying tribute to the level-headed demeanour of the forward who has been capped numerous times by his country.

He said: "We just tried to create a good environment for Marius and to be fair he has come to the club and joined in with the dressing room.

"He has not been one of those players who thought he was too big to come into Caley Thistle.

"I think you can see his class at times and the first goal in particular was pretty sweet."

Gretna head coach Davie Irons refused to blame this defeat on his side's disrupted preparations for the game, insisting the death of Phil O'Donnell last weekend put the unfortunate circumstances of a lengthy bus trip firmly into perspective.

The Borderers took six hours to reach Inverness from Perth on Friday, after their coach was caught in a snowdrift.

But Irons was not about to grumble over a problem which looks trivial next to the loss of former Motherwell captain O'Donnell.

He said: "The preparations weren't great, but I am not going to sit here and complain about it, because there are tragic things which have happened that show it doesn't really matter about a couple of hours delay on a bus journey.

"We haven't had a chance to publicly express our thoughts, but we would like to do that and our thoughts and wishes are with Phil's wife and children.

"Our inconvenience is nothing at all and I am not going to use it as an excuse, nor would I let the players use it as an excuse."

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