Source: Team_Talk
Caley chief grateful for lucky break
And he was enough honest to express his sympathy for St Mirren boss Gus MacPherson, whose side were dragged even further into a relegation dogfight with the 2-1 defeat.
Grant Munro's early opener was given by the assistant referee despite doubts over whether it had crossed the line despite Jack Ross' efforts to make a goal-line clearance.
St Mirren then hit back through Jim Hamilton but Ross Tokely claimed the decisive goal late on which keeps Inverness four points clear of bottom side Falkirk and leaves Saints second bottom.
Asked if there was some luck involved in the opening goal, Butcher said: "I haven't seen it and I don't particularly want to see it.
"All I saw was the linesman running back and I thought, 'That's good enough for me.'
"I don't think the referee could see it but the linesman running back indicates the linesman thinks it's a goal.
"I can feel for Gus because we had an offside goal at Falkirk allowed to stand in our 4-0 defeat.
"Perhaps we were fortunate at the end of the day but we scored two goals from set-pieces and we have worked on them this week."
Saints boss MacPherson was unhappy with the decision but even more upset about the efforts of his players.
He said: "It was clearly not over the line - the pictures have shown that Jack's standing foot is on the line so it's not over the line.
"But we are certainly not going to make excuses about the performance. It was nowhere near the standards we have set. It's probably the poorest we have played for a long time."
Despite the win, Butcher expects more twists and turns to come in what remains a five-team relegation scrap.
"Our main aim was to get more points than Ross Tokely's got," he joked.
"I think he's got 31 in terms of yellow cards and we are on 35 now so we are well ahead of him.
"I was looking at his yellow cards and saying, 'He's got 28 points and we've only got 17 - if we get more than him we will stay up!'
"The result means a lot to us but only in the respect that there are now only four games left and we have still maintained our lead over Falkirk, who had a terrific win.
"We have gone above two clubs but I think there's going to be a yo-yo effect, ups and downs. But it's another one out of the way and we are still on course.
"It's a happy dressing room. They certainly came back at the start of the week very refreshed and hungry.
"I said in the papers that they were kicking each other - and they were. You could sense that they really fancied it and were up for the challenge.
"I said this week, 'Let's not have any regrets' - I know that sounds pretty corny - but I told them to do whatever it takes."
