St Mirren manager Gus MacPherson was left frustrated with referee Crawford Allan after his team's 1-0 SPL defeat at Inverness on Saturday.Will Haining's dismissal in the 77th minute - following a first-half booking for kicking the ball away and then another caution for a foul on Marius Niculae - effectively ended St Mirren's hopes of taking anything from the match.

MacPherson had no complaints over Haining behind shown a red card, but he claimed Caley Thistle defender David Proctor should also have been sent off.

Proctor escaped punishment for a first-half tackle on Billy Mehmet and MacPherson believes when the right-back was eventually cautioned - for a late challenge on Mark Corcoran - it should have been the end of his game.

MacPherson said: "The referee had a major influence on the game without a shadow of a doubt.

"Proctor had a tackle in the first half which was the worst tackle in the game and the referee played advantage, which was fine, but then he didn't deal with the situation.

"The tackle Proctor was booked for could quite easily have been a red card in itself, so as every manager will tell you, it's just the inconsistency of it.

"I am not saying the referee has cost us the game - referees don't believe they do that - but there were some strange decisions.

"The one thing which annoyed me was that he didn't deal with a shocking tackle in the first half, as the tackle from behind has been outlawed for years.

"I have a lot of time for the referee as he is someone you can approach and talk to, but he is young and maybe still a little bit inexperienced for this level of football.

"Referees need to get experience and we understand that, but it always tends to be teams down at the bottom half of the league who have to put up with that."

Inverness player-manager Craig Brewster was delighted to see his team move a point behind St Mirren in the standings, as they survived a strong spell of pressure in the second period from their determined opponents.

Don Cowie's sixth-minute volley following a free-flowing move earned Caley Thistle all three points in poor weather.

But the Highlanders saw their defender Phil McGuire head against his own post, before Stewart Kean missed a great opportunity when clean through on goal.

Nevertheless, Inverness came through a stern test unscathed and Brewster has set his sights on leapfrogging St Mirren as quickly as possible.

The gap is just one point, and Brewster said: "The conditions were horrendous, they weren't great for the players and were atrocious for the supporters, but we will take the three points.

"They had more of the possession, but Michael Fraser didn't have too many saves to make outside of one from Kean in the second half.

"Phil McGuire then tried to play a one-two with the post and a few other shots flashed by, so we got the breaks.

"However, we looked dangerous on the counter-attack at times and I thought the build-up to the goal was superb.

"It was also pleasing to get a clean sheet and the back four played well.

"This was a big win for us as it puts us a point behind St Mirren and our next goal is to try to get ahead of them."

More Football News from TEAMtalk