Players need to be up for fight, says Robinson
Motherwell manager Stephen Robinson let rip at his players after they folded at Fir Park to meekly exit the Betfred Cup.
Three seasons ago they made four visits to Hampden, reaching the finals of both major cup competitions under the Irishman, but he claimed that a lack of fight cost them dearly yesterday.
He also pinpointed the absence of midfield powerhouse Allan Campbell – still self-isolating after the disastrous Scotland Under-21 trip to Greece – as the main reason his team lost out.
“I said to the players afterwards: ‘Do we miss Allan Campbell that badly?’ I will answer that myself – yes, we do.
“Without him, we have no bite. Nobody that wants to put their body on the line and get hurt. I singled out four players I thought did very well and the rest were miles away.
“We got what we deserved. Throughout they were stronger than us and looked hungrier, which is something I can’t often say about my teams. We didn’t do enough to win the match, simple as that.
“Two ridiculous pieces of defending have cost us. At half-time we talked about playing forward and being positive.
“But at the first goal, our first touch is backwards, it’s negative and we get punished for it. The second one is just such poor communication.
“We leave Robbie exposed one-onone with the quickest player on the pitch and people don’t take responsibility. It’s really disappointing but we got what we deserved.”
Robinson had hoped to return to the national stadium this season but he had no complaints about the outcome.
“There’s always a possibility of a cup run but I thought we looked fluffy, not as hungry as them
“We lack determination. We need to do the dirty side better over the two games we’ve played against St Johnstone.
“We want to have the perfect match, the perfect goal, the perfect passing sequence but, when you don’t do the simple things, you get beat.”
Due to postponements and international breaks, this was only Well’s fourth game in two months but Robinson snapped: “There are no excuses for that.”