91Èȱ¬

Inverness Caledonian Thistle dug deep to claim a point against Scottish Premiership leaders Celtic.

Edward Ofere's shot from close range quickly cancelled out Leigh Griffiths' low-struck opener for Celtic before the hosts suffered an injury blow.

Goalkeeper Dean Brill was stretchered off after dislocating a knee.

His replacement Ryan Esson denied Efe Ambrose and Jason Denayer, while David Raven and Greg Tansey threatened for the hosts.

Ronny Deila's side, due to face Inverness again in next Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final, move eight points clear of Aberdeen, who visit Kilmarnock on Sunday. The gap between the Dons and Caley is reduced to 10 points.

The windy conditions aided Celtic's opening goal as Scott Brown's long ball held up for Griffiths to take down, set himself and shoot precisely across Brill into the bottom right-hand corner.

However, Inverness were level almost immediately as Celtic struggled to deal with Graeme Shinnie's cross from the left in the blustery conditions.

Marley Watkins set up Raven for a shot that was touched on by Ryan Christie and, although Denayer cleared off the line, Ofere was well placed to bury the rebound.

Brill was making his first appearance since injuring a knee in January but his return was cut short when he pulled up in pain, clutching his left leg after making a clearance under pressure from Gary Mackay-Steven.

The goalkeeper, who was given oxygen on the pitch, was stretchered off and an ambulance was called for as Esson came on from the bench.

And the replacement made an important save before the break, tipping over Ambrose's header from Stefan Johansen's free-kick.

The substitute frustrated the visitors again in the second half, beating away Denayer's header following a Stuart Armstrong set piece from deep.

The flow of the game was often interrupted by scrappy fouls and bookings and Brown was yellow-carded for simulation after hitting the deck when closed down by Raven in the Inverness box.

Caley sought to interrupt the procession towards their own goal when they won a rare corner and Raven fired over from the edge of the box from Christie's delivery.

Watkins then set up Greg Tansey for a shot that was deflected over.

Armstrong fired into the arms of Esson in stoppage time as Celtic were denied a sixth straight win.