Inverness CT 2 St Johnstone 1

Inverness bounced back from midweek misery at Ibrox by earning a 2-1 win over St Johnstone.

Second-half strikes from Marley Watkins and Ryan Christie gave Inverness the points before a Brian Graham header made for a nervy finish.

The home side made three changes from the side that went out of the League Cup against Rangers on Tuesday, and it did the trick.

Carl Tremarco, Liam Polworth and Danny Williams all dropped to the bench while Graeme Shinnie, Ross Draper and goalscorer Christie returned to the starting 11.

St Johnstone made two changes to the team beaten 1-0 by Dundee at McDiarmid Park last weekend. Michael O'Halloran dropped to the bench while Gary Brown missed out completely. In came Lee Croft and Simon Lappin for the visitors.

The first opportunity of the game came after seven minutes when David Raven whipped a cross in from the right and Aaron Doran narrowly failed to get his head on it.

Gary Warren came close next for Caley Thistle as he headed a Greg Tansey free-kick wide of Alan Mannus' goal.

Showing more urgency than they had against Rangers, Billy McKay tried to turn Shinnie's cross goalwards for Inverness but was denied by a block from Steven Anderson.

Inverness wasted a good chance on the break as first Shinnie and then Tansey failed to get a shot away, before stand-in captain Shinnie had a shot blocked by a sliding Chris Millar.

It was all one-way traffic and Watkins went close with a close-range effort, however a sprawling Frazer Wright blocked the shot.

Doran was beginning to get more of the ball and it was his break down the left that created an opportunity for Inverness, however his ball was behind a falling McKay and Chris Millar cleared.

Tansey had another free-kick before half-time that shaved the crossbar but the Caley Jags were forced to go in at the break level.

Inverness had the first opportunity of the second half as Christie had a shot charged down, McKay picking up the pieces and shooting straight at Mannus.

Finally, it seemed to spark the visitors into life and a David Wotherspoon cross seven minutes into the second half narrowly missed Gary McDonald at the back post.

One of Watkins' biggest qualms with his game this season was his lack of goals and he eventually registered on the hour mark.

The Welshman played in Doran on the break and he received the return ball in the penalty before sliding his shot under Mannus.

It was quickly 2-0 for Inverness, Shinnie finding Christie on the edge of the area and the young midfielder fired across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner.

With 12 minutes to go, Saints showed signs of life with a goal back, Brian Graham heading home Lee Croft's cross to create a nervy closing for the home side.

Chris Millar's cross went unclaimed before on-loan striker Adam Morgan had a snap-shot from the edge of the box that went wide of Dean Brill's goal.