Caley Thistle assistant manager Russell Latapy says young players must be careful about their conduct during nights out.
Midfielder Aaron Doran and defender Danny Devine were both fined by police following a disturbance in Inverness city centre last weekend, just hours after Caley Jags’ 2-1 Scottish Premiership win against St Mirren.
Latapy’s playing career was not bereft of controversy, with the former Trinidad and Tobago international sacked by Hibernian in 2001 after being charged for drink driving after a night out in Edinburgh with then Manchester United forward Dwight Yorke.
The 46-year-old has given his backing to Doran and Devine, insisting he has no problem with players socialising after games.
However, Latapy says footballers must be aware they will attract attention when seen in public.
Latapy said: “It’s not going to affect the team. The manager and I, as past players, understand certain situations. I’ve been involved in lots of situations as a player.
“It is young men, they’ve won a game and sometimes they go out for a meal and have one drink too many. Someone says something the wrong way, they respond and get into a fracas.
“That’s a normal situation. I’m not saying we condone it but we can understand that these things do happen sometimes.
“As a player, it can be difficult sometimes. It works both ways. There are people who are pleasant towards players and people who aren’t.
“One of the key factors is tolerance at that particular time. If a player has just scored a hat-trick he can tolerate anything. Maybe if he missed a hat-trick, he tolerates less.
“A lot of it is spur of the moment but I would say if players put themselves in the position it is possible anything can happen.
“With experience, the boys will understand that they don’t put themselves in that position where these things can happen.
“It is a little incident and we don’t want to blow it out of proportion. We’re on a good run, winning games. The boys went out for a meal and these things happen.”