MARKUS Paatelainen did his chances of being offered a new contract from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the summer no harm yesterday with a late equaliser to keep the Highlanders' challenge for a top-six place on track.

Paatelainen, whose time in Inverness has been hampered by injury, emerged in the Dundee United penalty area to snatch his goal six minutes from time as the home side tried desperately to recover from Prince Buaben's early second-half strike.

But, while the Tannadice team dropped below Motherwell and into fourth place, Dundee United manager Craig Levein predicted a bright future for his squad.

"If you look at that team," he said, "particularly the one that finished the game, there are a lot of young players who are making their way in the game and their best years are in front of them. For me that augurs well.

"If I have guys like Danny Swanson to come on and be able to change the game and Craig Conway and Noel Hunt there, too, then all of a sudden we are starting to get a squad together, and I know from my time at Hearts that if you want to finish in the top six, you can't do it with a threadbare squad. It's got to be quality."

Caley Thistle manager Craig Brewster praised Paatelainen, who has been disappointed not to feature in the first-team squad for the last couple of games.

"I thought we were very comfortable today," he said, "though we were a bit hurried with the final pass in the box. Then you find yourself a goal down and Markus comes on and he gives you that little threat in the final third. I was delighted for him to get the goal.

"He hasn't played a lot of games after being out for a long time so that will give him great confidence."

Only four points separated these sides before the game, giving it an edginess, partly brought about by changes in the respective line-ups. For the home team, Phil McGuire was back after missing three games through suspension while Dougie Imrie, signed from Clyde on the last day of the January transfer window, was given his first start and turned in an excellent performance on his home debut.

For United, the re-structuring of the side was dramatic. Their Scottish Cup defeat in midweek to St Mirren had clearly displeased Levein to such a degree that Darren Dods, Hunt, David Robertson and Conway, all major contributors to the Tannadice cause this season, were relegated to the bench. Christian Kalvenes nursed a hamstring injury, as Sean Dillon, Danny Grainger, Garry Kenneth, Jim O'Brien and Buaben returned for Highland duty. The magnitude of those alterations represented a sizeable gamble for the United manager, a factor their early, tentative play seemed to suggest, although with the quality players he had on the bench, he didn't see it as too much of a risk.

The somewhat disjointed and uncertain nature of much of the visitors' first-half play was perhaps not unexpected in the circumstances, and when a Don Cowie shot from distance whizzed past the post in the fifth minute there were thoughts that similar efforts would be on their way.

Remarkably, it took 25 more minutes for any reasonable goalmouth action to happen. Again it was Cowie who signalled danger, this time racing on to Ross Tokely's square pass to fire a powerful effort straight into the arms of Lukasz Zaluska, the opposition goalkeeper.

The United fans had to wait until five minutes before the break to witness a meaningful attack from their side. O'Brien, clever and inventive on the ball, made the opening for Buaben but Michael Fraser in the Inverness goal stopped the shot easily.

The replacement for the second half of Mark De Vries by Hunt for United was hardly unexpected. Levein's endeavour to bring some vitality up front was clear, though he might have been more concerned at the uncertainty in central defence. As it was, it was not long before he employed the trickery of Swanson for Willo Flood in the midfield.

It took a little time for the new formation to settle, but Hunt was instrumental in carving out the opportunity for Buaben to grab the opener. The Irishman tenaciously carried the ball into the Caley Thistle penalty area and when he prodded his pass forward to the advancing Buaben, the midfielder banged his shot home from close range.

Most of the possession until that point had belonged to Inverness, and while they were stung by the loss of the goal, Graham Bayne's 20-yard volley minutes later allowed Zaluska to earn his corn on a bitterly cold afternoon by producing an impressive acrobatic save.

Then, Roy McBain broke into the United area but his shot was weak and did not trouble the Polish goalkeeper. There was no doubting the home side's stylish football deserved much better and their patience was rewarded with six minutes left to play.

The neatest of chips into the penalty box was touched on by Bayne for the unmarked Paatelainen, a substitute for Ian Black five minutes earlier, to crack a ferocious shot high into Zaluska's net.

The goal sparked a fighting finish from the Highlanders but in the end they had to settle for a share of the points.