Hamilton boss Billy Reid thought James McArthur was very unfortunate to be shown a straight red card in their relegation tussle with Inverness which ended 1-1.

The young midfielder was given his marching orders by referee Charlie Richmond for a challenge on Inverness playmaker Filipe Morais in the second half.

Reid believed it was a harsh decision and added that he felt the challenge only warranted a yellow card.

He said: "I understand the laws of the game that if you raise your foot you are liable for sending off.

"I think at times a bit of common sense can prevail. I think James is one of the most committed players in the SPL.

"He is continually diving into challenges but I don't think he is a dirty player. I thought he won the ball cleanly and Morais didn't seem to be badly hurt.

"The Inverness officials and players didn't seem to think it was a sending-off and I think a yellow card and a warning would have sufficed."

The Accies are now six points above Falkirk but the Hamilton boss said his side are focused on catching Motherwell to finish best of the bottom six, rather than getting caught up in the relegation battle.

"If we had won today we could have said that we were fine but, as I have said all along, we are trying to finish as high as we can," he said.

"We believe in what we are doing and with the spirit we have there is no reason why we can't finish as high as possible."

The Hamilton boss praised his side for their resilience to hold out for a draw against Inverness after being reduced to 10 men.

He added: "Tomas Cerny didn't have too much to do and we probably could have won it in the end through Richard Offiong who had the best chance of the game but unfortunately shot wide."

Inverness boss Terry Butcher believed McArthur's sending off may have actually worked in favour of the visitors.

He said: "I thought the sending off was perhaps a little harsh. In my day that would have probably been a fair tackle.

"That didn't necessarily help us as I think it galvanised them.

"Perhaps we had a fear of winning at that stage and were worried about losing to a team of 10 men.

"It sounds bizarre but that is what can happen, particularly when you are at the bottom."

Butcher admitted his side had missed a glorious chance to open up some vital breathing space between themselves and Falkirk.

He added: "A draw may have been a fair result as Offiong could have won it at the end for them.

"But we had a great opportunity to go into eighth position and get a few more points ahead but it wasn't to be."