Robbo’s relief as injury-hit Well’s Hampden hopefuls survive tough Saints test unscathed
Stephen Robinson revealed Motherwell’s stalemate with St Johnstone was a tough watch – as he was sweating on his stars for Hampden.
The Fir Park gaffer’s overriding feeling was of relief after his side came through the draw at McDiarmid Park without adding to their brutal injury list ahead of Saturday’s Scottish Cup semi-final showdown with Aberdeen.
Robbo is already without Andy Rose, Craig Tanner, Peter Hartley and Ellis Plummer while Alan Campbell, Nadir Ciftci and Charles Dunne all face a race to be fit for the clash with the Dons.
However, the rest of Robinson’s squad
managed to get through this clash without adding to his woes.
The Steelmen boss said: “It wasn’t a great game to watch but the main thing is we got through it unscathed.
“We were without six regular starters and have got injury worries to contend with this week.
“It was a bit of a risk to play some of the boys but we don’t have a big enough squad to have any choice.
“A few of the lads coming back got through it as well. Young Barry Maguire was quality on his debut and he’s put himself in the frame for next week.
“The boys who came in did well and there are some good performances to take in to next week.
“If we show that same kind of discipline and organisation then we have a good chance.
“St Johnstone are a tough side to play against and they’ve been in the top six for years for a reason.
“It was also a difficult surface to play on so it was a good point. A draw was
probably a fair enough result for both teams in the end.”
Robinson wasn’t kidding when he admitted this wasn’t a classic.
One side had their eye on Hampden while the other looked as if they had their eye on the beach.
Well were wrapped in cotton wool but Saints had a sense of wanting the season to be over as soon as possible.
At least Robinson’s men have the cup, Tommy Wright is having to rile up his side for the remaining games after they condemned themselves to play in the bottom half after the split for the first time in seven years.
No wonder there was a feeling both teams would rather have been elsewhere. The first half was a complete non-event in terms of chances created with Curtis Main dragging a shot wide at one end and Murray Davidson doing likewise at the other.
There was a slight spark after the interval but it hardly caught fire.
Saints took charge for a 15-minute spell and Trevor Carson had to paw out a David Wotherspoon drive moments after clutching Scott Tanser’s free-kick.
Cedric Kipre saw yellow for crudely halting a promising Chris Kane run with Wotherspoon firing the free-kick narrowly past.
Well posed more of a threat as well and Main wriggled free of his man before curling an effort wide and Gael Bigirimana’s free-kick was awkwardly spilled by Alan Mannus.
Richard Foster lashed a volley high in to the Perthshire sky and the home side struggled to carve out much where it mattered and 32 goals in 33 league games sums it up for Saints this term.
Boss Tommy Wright admitted it’s tough getting used to life outside the top six but insisted he won’t allow his side to coast until the end of the season.
He said: “We got in some good positions but lacked that final ball.
“We worked all week to try and cut crosses back because when you get deep against them they set their three centre-backs in and they are very difficult to get across.
“We could have worked their keeper better but the pitch didn’t help and it was a bit of a typical 0- 0.
“It had an end- of- season feel to the game but contracts are to be played for here or elsewhere so there is still plenty of motivation. If standards drop people will not be in the team.
“I’ll make sure they stay motivated and we will introduce some of our younger players in the final five games.
“We want to finish seventh and give some of the lads experience ahead of next season.”