Gary Glen scored the only goal of the game to give Hearts victory over Inverness at Tynecastle.
In a scoreless first half, Hearts' Christos Karipidis came closest when his header cracked off the crossbar.
Substitute Lee Wallace almost broke the deadlock for the home side early in the second half when his shot at the back post was well saved by Michael Fraser.
The winner came 10 minutes from time when Glen fired home after being played in by Ruben Palazuelos.
Hearts had made two enforced changes to their starting line-up with Christian Nade and Laryea Kingston missing out through injury.
Calum Elliot started in attack with Glen while Deividas Cesnauskis was drafted into the midfield.
Inverness manager Craig Brewster made one change to the side which beat Kilmarnock last week with Russell Duncan replacing Grant Munro.
Hearts enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening exchanges but failed to test Fraser in the Inverness goal.
Eggert Jonsson almost took advantage of some poor Caley defending on 19 minutes but his shot was defelcted wide by David Proctor.
From the resultant corner, Karipidis' header crashed against the crossbar before the ball was cleared.
Within a minute, Glen had a further chance for Hearts but he scooped his shot over the bar from six yards out.
Glen then set up Ruben Palazuelos in front of goal but the Spaniard failed to connect properly as the ball bounced wide with the goal gaping.
Inverness first tested Steve Banks after 32 minutes when Dennis Wyness was fouled on the edge of the box and Don Cowie fired in a shot from the resultant free-kick, which was fisted away by the Hearts goalkeeper.
Banks was called into action twice more before half-time, saving first from Proctor's header before blocking Wyness' effort.
Hearts captain Christophe Berra threatened to break the deadlock at the start of the second period but his header from Saulius Mikoliunas' corner was saved by Faser.
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Wallace was introduced for Cesnauskis on 53 minutes and almost made an instant impact when he met a backpost cross but Fraser pulled off an excellent save.
The full-back then sprung the offside trap and found himself in on goal but instead of shooting, Wallace elected to pass and the danger was cleared. Palazuelos tested Fraser on 62 minutes with a fierce drive from 35 yards which the goalkeeper held.
As the match looked like heading for a goalless draw, Glen played a one-two with Palazuelos before firing high into the net from 12 yards out.
Glen was replaced in injury time by Scott Robinson, who became the club's youngest ever top-flight performer at the age of 16.
Hearts: Banks, Thomson, Karipidis, Berra, Goncalves, Mikoliunas, Jonsson, Palazuelos, Cesnauskis (Wallace 52), Elliot (Zaliukas 76), Glen (Robinson 90).
Subs Not Used: Ridgers, Ivaskevicius, Screpis, Rapnik.
Booked: Jonsson, Mikoliunas.
Goals: Glen 80.
Inverness CT: Fraser, Tokely, Proctor, Hastings, McBain, Wilson (Paatelainen 72), Duncan, Cowie, Imrie, Wyness (Bayne 65), Niculae (McAllister 83).
Subs Not Used: Malkowski, Black, Kerr, Vigurs.
Booked: McBain.
Ref: D McDonald.
BBC Sport Player Rater man of the match: Hearts' Steve Banks, Christophe Berra and Eggert Jonsson 7.50 (on 90 minutes).
Please note that you can still give the players marks out of 10 on BBC Sport's Player Rater after the match has finished.
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