‘Vital’ point as ten-man Motherwell show mettle

Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson hailed his players for securing a “massive point” as they ended their four-game losing streak with this 1-1 draw against Livingston.

The Lanarkshire side have only taken five points from a possible 24 so far this season, but looked like recording a first home win when Ryan Bowman, pictured, struck midway through the first half.

Keaghan Jacobs’ spectacular free-kick levelled matters later on as the league’s surprise package notched another welcome point.

The hosts also had Carl Mchugh sent off with 12 minutes to go after picking up two yellow cards in the space of eight minutes, in a result that leaves Robinson’s men sitting close to the drop zone.

With matches coming up against the teams in and around them, the Northern Irishman knows how important a result it may prove to be.

“It was vital to get a point,” he said. “When you’ve lost four games like we have and things go against you, it can be easy to fall apart. I’ve got to give credit to the resilience and the character of the team. We stuck with it today and managed to get a point.”

Robinson felt that Mchugh’s second booking was “extremely harsh”. When asked if he’d spoken to referee Willie Collum about the incident, he replied “What’s the point?”

Livingston boss Gary Holt also praised his side’s character as they extended their unbeaten league run to seven matches.

“The good thing for me is that they’re sitting in there disappointed,” he said of his players. “They’re annoyed that they only got a point. That shows how far they’ve come.

“Teams like Motherwell don’t make it easy for you so to come from behind and scrap to get a point is great. They deserve real credit.”