Hearts' attempt to claim second place in the Bank of Scotland Premierleague suffered a setback at the Caledonian Stadium as Inverness held the high-flying Tynecastle club to a goalless draw.

Graham Rix's side are now only six points ahead of Rangers after the Light Blues' victory against Kilmarnock - and the two are set to meet in eight days' time.

Craig Gordon was the busier of the two goalkeepers and he produced two fine stops from Richie Hart eight minutes before the break, while Roman Bednar had the best chance for Hearts with a 29th-minute shot which was well saved.

A swirling wind made life difficult and in only the second minute a clearance from Darren Dods was held up in the breeze and Hearts goalkeeper Gordon had to race from his line to clear the danger with Craig Dargo in hot pursuit.

However, Russell Duncan seized on the loose ball and attempted to lift a shot over the keeper from 30 yards but Gordon recovered in time to save.

In the eighth minute Inverness defenders Richard Hastings and Grant Munro conspired to present Bednar with an opportunity but from an acute angle his well-hit drive was blocked by Mark Brown.

In the 29th minute a flowing Hearts counter-attack led by Deividas Cesnauskis found Bednar on the edge of the area but instead of squaring to Chris Hackett the striker selfishly tried his luck from 18 yards and Brown comfortably smothered.

Eight minutes before the interval a wonderful through-ball from Alan Morgan sent the Hart racing towards the Hearts goal but Gordon stood his ground well and when the midfielder tried to slip the ball past him the Scotland goalkeeper dropped to make a magnificent stop.

Barely 60 seconds later Gordon was again called into action when a Dargo cut-back allowed Hart to shoot at goal from 12 yards but this time his dipping effort was beaten away by the Hearts keeper.

Inverness began the second half with the wind in their favour and in the 50th minute a Hart free-kick caused problems for Gordon.

When the ball bounced in the six-yard box it skipped up high but the goalkeeper dealt well with the tricky effort.

Despite enjoying the majority of possession Caley struggled to trouble Gordon with any serious efforts until a Morgan 25-yard free-kick in the 75th minute forced the goalkeeper to make a comfortable catch.

With five minutes remaining Hearts substitute Jamie McAllister had to be replaced by Jose Concalves as the ex-Aberdeen player suffered a leg injury - more bad news for the Tynecastle club who could rue the two dropped points when they face Rangers next Sunday.

Teams

Inverness CT Brown, Tokely, Dods, Munro, Hastings, Hart,Duncan, Black, Morgan, Bayne, Dargo.

Subs Not Used: Fraser, Golabek, McCaffrey, McBain, Keogh, Fox,

Jackson.

Booked: Hart.

Hearts Gordon, Neilson, Webster, Berra, Fyssas,Hackett (McAllister 67), Hartley, Aguiar, Cesnauskis, Elliot,Bednar, McAllister (Goncalves 85).

Subs Not Used: Banks, Johnson, Mikoliunas, Pospisil, Petras.

Booked: Aguiar, Fyssas.

Att: 5,027

Ref: K Toner (Scotland).