Boss Walter Smith refused to blame Kenny Miller after his late penalty miss cost Rangers the chance to leave Inverness with all three points. The Scotland striker was the hero when his 57th-minute strike cancelled out Jonny Hayes' stunning 31st-minute opener for Caley Thistle.
However, Miller then saw his 81st minute spot kick saved by Inverness keeper Ryan Esson.
The 1-1 draw moved Rangers three points clear of Celtic at the top, but the gap could have been more had Miller converted from spot.
"It happens," said Smith. "People who take penalties put themselves up for it, so you have to be prepared that they are going to miss them once or twice.
"However, Kenny has been in fantastic goalscoring form for us this season, so I can't have any complaints.
"For us it was a game of two halves. We played poorly in the first half and didn't deserve any better than we got out of the game going in at half-time.
"In the second half we played well and probably deserved to win the game as we dominated the match after the break."
Having seen his side put under pressure for large periods of the second half, Caley Thistle boss Terry Butcher was pleased enough with the point.
And Butcher hopes there is much more to come from his team in the new year.
"We're just enjoying it," he said. "We've got a great festive programme to look forward to, so hopefully we can start to get a few more of our injured players back.
"The boys have put in so much work into building these unbeaten runs that they don't want to let it go because they don't want it to be seen as just a flash in the pan in terms of their form. It's more important than that.
"This year has been a fantastic one for the club and there are a lot of wonderful memories, so we want to try to continue that in 2011."
