Alexander still upbeat despite game’s big moments going against his side

GRAHAM Alexander believes Motherwell were denied the chance to double their lead before sliding to a 6-1 thrashing from Rangers. Defender Bevis Mugabi fired the Fir Park side into an early lead against the Champions. And Alexander identified the rejection of a handball appeal against Leon Balogun at 1-0 as a game-defining moment, with Rangers storming back to score twice before half-time then ruthlessly capitalising on a second yellow card for home captain Stephen O’Donnell after 67 minutes ‘I thought we used the ball well and created chances and could have had a penalty at 1-0,’ said Alexander. ‘I just thought it was about these moments in games which have happened this season and been big, game-defining moments. ‘The two goals before half-time did that and obviously the red card. What happened after the red card, you just sit in your box and get everyone behind the ball or you try to salvage something. ‘We tried to salvage something but obviously we didn’t have enough on the pitch to do that and they punished us when they could. ‘The result is a really difficult one to take. ‘You don’t want to concede six goals to anybody. But I thought for 42 minutes our performance was excellent and the game went according to our plan. ‘The two goals just before halftime turned that on its head.

The big moments are the two goals before half-time and then the red card which took the game away from us.’ Booked for pulling back Fashion Sakala after nine minutes, O’Donnell got a second yellow midway through the second half for a late foul on Joe Aribo. ‘I’ve not spoken with Stephen,’ added the Motherwell boss. ‘He was quiet afterwards, as everyone was in the changing room. But I don’t think now was the time for talking. ‘We need to let our emotions go down and let our heads clear. We can have a conversation on Tuesday about what we need to do going forward. ‘This game is gone. I don’t think it’ll just disappear into the dust — it’ll be at the back of our minds for a while -— but there are a lot of challenges ahead.’

Urging his players to learn from a painful experience, the former Scotland defender added: ‘Sulking’s not something I do or my team does, I don’t believe in it. It doesn’t take you forward and we have to go forward. We have to learn from this and learn from moments in games where you see them out and keep your composure and discipline. ‘There are things to take from this but also things that we know don’t usually happen. It’s a rare one, we have to make sure it’s rare. ‘We have a lot of good players and have done some real good things this season. Up until yesterday we were in the top six. So we have to understand that we have done good things and we’re not going to let this be a cloud over our heads for the rest of the season.’