Strachan was forced to start with Shaun Maloney and Scott McDonald up front in today's Clydesdale Bank Premier League clash following injuries to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, Georgios Samaras and Chris Killen.

The Celtic manager admitted his side did not adapt well to playing without an aerial presence in attack during a poor first half showing.

He said: "I thought it was a poor game in the first half and it only got slightly better in the second.

"We said to the players at half-time that we were looking for an improvement and we changed the style a wee bit.

"We had to change our whole style of play before the game after we learnt we had another player (Georgios Samaras) injured yesterday.

"We tried something in the first half but it didn't work for various reasons so we changed it and it got a bit better."

Strachan's delight at winning in Inverness at a stadium that has provided a few upsets for the Glasgow giants in the past may have been overshadowed by injuries to two other key players.

Gary Caldwell limped off after 64 minutes suffering from a cut on his foot, whilst Spanish midfielder Marc Crosas was carried off with a hamstring injury as the game drew to a close.

Both players will now face late fitness tests to be ready for Tuesday's crucial Champions League tie with Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Strachan added: "Gary had to have stitches in his foot. He wanted to play on which is typical of Gary but he just couldn't do it and then Marc has hurt his hamstring in the last couple of moments."

Inverness manager Craig Brewster was annoyed with his side's slow start to the second half, with Scott Brown netting the opener three minutes after the restart.

The Caley Thistle defence then gave Glenn Loovens space in the box to head home his second goal for Celtic.

Brewster said: "I just felt the start of the second half we were a bit slow to react to things and came out of the blocks a bit slowly. We got punished and the second goal killed us off a bit.

"We have to deal with a cross coming into the box like that."

However, the Inverness manager was pleased with the way his side responded to going two goals down, with Garry Wood scrambling home a consolation goal in the 69th minute.

He said: "We reacted well to get back in the game through Garry Wood.

"I thought we looked strong in the last 20 minutes with a lot of play in and around the Celtic box but it just didn't break for us."

One real concern for Brewster will be the serious ankle injury Phil McGuire sustained in the second half.

The Inverness boss was hopeful the centre-half did not suffer a break.

He added: "Phil is on his way to hospital and we will have to wait and see what develops. I spoke to one of the doctors and we don't think it is broken. We will keep our fingers crossed."