Saints and Steelmen both blame the pitch for stodgy stalemate
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Motherwell boss Stephen Robinson blamed the poor surface at McDiarmid Park for a far from memorable 90 minutes.
His counterpart, Tommy Wright, agreed the state of the pitch didn’t help matters but he felt his team just edged it and assured Saints fans there will be an improvement from his team in the final five games of the season as they chase bonus money, contract renewals or moves elsewhere.
Robinson will want an improvement from his men for next weekend as they have a place in the Scottish Cup Final at stake but will have to beat Aberdeen at Hampden Park on Saturday.
Robinson said: “That was a point we’ve gained in what is a difficult place to come against a very good St Johnstone team.
“They’ve been in the top six for many years for a reason – because they are well organised and disciplined.
“It was a difficult surface to play football on and that led to a lot of errors and not as much quality as we’d normally look for.
“Chances were created and Trevor Carson had a good save for us and then Liam Grimshaw had a chance to score at the end.
“But, overall, it was a good one for us ahead of the semi-final and we managed to come through the game unscathed.
“And that was important as we have injuries and we don’t have a huge squad to choose from.”
Wright said: “It wasn’t a game for the purists but there was plenty endeavour. The pitch was a wee bit dry and bobbly.
“I was disappointed we didn’t mix up our final ball from wide areas but we probably managed to do enough to just edge it.
“However, there was that end of season feel to the game.
“But we still have plenty
to play for, whether it’s contracts, money OR other things. But we do want to win games and the players will be motivated, I’ll make sure of that.
“I want to finish the season strongly as I want to finish in seventh place and give some of our younger players first-team experience.”
Chances in the game were few and far between and the lack of quality on display was depressing. The pitch can’t be held solely responsible for that.
After a dreadful first half – the worst I’ve seen all season – David Wotherspoon forced Trevor Carson into an excellent save from his six-yard volley in the 50th minute. 0In stoppage time, Motherwell’s Liam Grimshaw had a shot cleared off the line by Steven Anderson.
The Lanarkshire side also handed a debut to young central defender Barry Maguire and he played well and forced himself into contention for next week’s showdown.
Robinson will take the coming week to assess the likes of Allan Campbell and Nadir Ciftci to see if they can shake off injuries to be available for selection.
Regardless of the personnel at his disposal, there will need to be a massive improvement in quality from his team to beat Aberdeen.