Arbroath 0-0 Inverness CT: Top two remain three points apart in second tier

Aaron Doran threatened for Inverness before going off injured

Jack Hamilton was denied a debut goal as Arbroath drew with Inverness to stay three points clear at the top of the Scottish Championship.

The substitute diverted James Craigen's shot into the net but was flagged offside.

Earlier, Thomas O'Brien and Craigen had been off target for Arbroath.

Aaron Doran came close for second-placed Inverness before going off injured and David Carson fired against the outside of a post for the visitors.

Arbroath miss out on a fifth consecutive win but extend their unbeaten sequence to 12 as Inverness, who have a game in hand, remain a point above Raith Rovers.

Striker Hamilton has joined Arbroath on loan from Livingston as Joel Nouble prepares to head back in the other direction and got 20 minutes with his new team-mates.

Arbroath manager Dick Campbell: "At the start of the day, we're three points clear at the top of the league. At the end of the day, we're still three points clear against a full-time team.

"No real clear cut chances. Two really good teams, two good defences. I've no complaints whatsoever about my players. We didn't think (the Jack Hamilton incident) was offside. A draw was probably a fair result."

Inverness Caledonian Thistle manager Billy Dodds: "A good point. We've got a spirit and we had to dig in. They've got big lads up front and then they threw big lads on. We stood strong and we stood firm.

"It's all to play for. It's a tough Championship. We'll be hoping to win it. I wouldn't say we will win it but we're hoping to win it. There's a lot of other teams saying that as well."